Gas heat pump system

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a gas heat pump system. The gas heat pump system, according to one embodiment of the present invention, comprises: an air conditioning module comprising a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an expansion apparatus, an indoor heat exchanger and a refrigerant line; and an engine module comprising an engine for combusting a mixture of fuel and air, thereby providing power for driving the compressor. The engine module comprises: a mixer for mixing and discharging the air and fuel; a supercharging means for receiving the mixture discharged from the mixer, compressing same, and then discharging same; an intercooler for receiving the mixture compressed in the supercharging means, cooling same by a heat exchange method, increasing the density thereof, and then discharging same; an adjustment means for receiving the mixture discharged from the intercooler, adjusting the quantity thereof, and then supplying same to the engine; and an exhaust gas heat exchanger for exchanging heat between a coolant and exhaust gas discharged from the engine.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. National Stage Application under 35 U.S.C. §371 of PCT Application No. PCT/KR2018/015797, filed Dec. 12, 2018, whichclaims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2017-0170193, filedDec. 12, 2017, whose entire disclosures are hereby incorporated byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a gas heat pump system.

BACKGROUND ART

A heat pump system may be a system having a refrigeration cycle in whichcooling or heating operations are performed and be interlocked with ahot water supply device and a cooling/heating device. That is, hot watermay be produced, or air-conditioning for the cooling and heatingoperations may be performed using a heat source obtained byheat-exchange between a refrigerant of the refrigeration cycle and apredetermined heat storage medium.

For the refrigerant cycle, a condenser that compresses the refrigerant,a condenser that condenses the refrigerant compressed in the compressor,an expansion device that depressurizes the refrigerant condensed in thecondenser, and an evaporator that evaporates the depressurizedrefrigerant are provided.

The heat pump system includes a gas heat pump system. A high-capacitycompressor, which is not intended for domestic use but for industries orfor air-conditioning large buildings is required. That is, the gas heatpump system may be used as a system using a gas engine, instead of anelectric motor so as to drive the compressor for compressing a largeamount of refrigerant into a high-temperature high-pressure gas.

The gas heat pump system includes an engine that generates power using amixture (hereinafter, referred to as a mixed gas) of fuel and air. Forexample, the engine may include a cylinder to which the mixed gas issupplied and a piston which is provided to be movable in the cylinder.

The gas heat pump system includes an air supply device that supplies themixed gas to the engine, a fuel supply device, and a mixer that mixesthe air with the fuel.

The air supply device may include an air filter that purifies the air.Also, the fuel supply device may include a zero governor for supplingthe fuel having a constant pressure.

The zero governor may be understood as a device that constantlyregulates and supplies an outlet pressure regardless of a change of amagnitude or flow rate of an inlet pressure of the fuel. For example,the zero governor may include a nozzle portion that reduces the pressureof the fuel, a diaphragm on which the pressure depressurized at thenozzle portion acts, and a valve device that is opened and closed by anoperation of the diaphragm.

The air passing through an air filter and the fuel discharged from thezero governor are mixed in the mixer so as to be supplied to the engine.

Also, when the mixed gas supplied to the engine is burned, an exhaustgas may be discharged from the engine. The gas heat pump system furtherincludes a muffler that reduces noise generated from the exhaust gas.

A prior art document with respect to the gas heat pump system accordingto the related art is as follows.

1. Registration Number (Filing data): 10-1341533 (Dec. 9, 2013)

2. Title of The Invention: Gas heat pump System And Method ForControlling The Same

The gas heat pump according to the related art as described above uses agas engine that uses the household LNG or LPG as a heat source tocirculate a compressor refrigerant and thus operates in a cooling modein summer and a heating mode in winter.

However, when supplying air to the gas engine in a natural intakemanner, and supplying the household LNG or LPG as a fuel, there is aproblem in that an output of the gas engine is reduced due to a lowsupply pressure (1 kPa to 2.5 kPa).

Also, in the summer, the gas heat pump system operates in a cooling modein order to lower a temperature in the room. When the outdoortemperature is high, hot air is supplied to the gas engine due to thehigh temperature.

Accordingly, low-density air is supplied to the gas engine to reduce theoutput of the gas engine. As a result, the output of the gas engine maynot be maintained with a high cooling load, which causes coolingfailure.

Also, to solve this problem, like an engine of a vehicle, afterpressurizing air by using a turbocharger, when supplying the fuel whileadjusting an amount of fuel according to the air amount, a supplypressure (about 2.5 kPa) of the gas fuel within tube is less than asupercharging pressure (about 30 kPa), and thus, there is also a problemin that it is difficult to supply the fuel.

When additional components such as a mixer, a turbocharging device, anintercooler, a regulator, and the like are additionally provided tocompress and supply the mixed gas of the fuel and the air to the engine,if each component is fixed to a structure that is separated from theengine, a tube has to be connected from an intake manifold of the engineup to an exhaust manifold of the engine. Thus, there is a problem inthat the overall length of the tube is longer.

Also, as the length of the tube is longer, the structure is complicated,and as the coupling member for fixing each component is separatelyprovided, the structure is more complicated, and a surface area occupiedby each component increases to increase in volume and weight of theentire system.

Also, if the components such as the mixer, the turbocharging device, theintercooler, and the regulator are fixed to the structure that isseparated from the engine, when the engine starts, the engine and eachcomponent do not vibrate in the same direction, but vibrate in arelatively opposite direction. Thus, there is a problem such as damageof a connection tube and a connected portion of the tube due to thevibration of the engine.

Also, when the mixed gas of the fuel and air increases in flow length,there is a problem that a risk of explosion increases.

Also, a gas engine heat pump system is provided with an exhaust gas heatexchanger to collect heat generated by the engine.

The existing exhaust gas heat exchanger has the form of a shell-tubetype and is attached directly to the exhaust manifold.

However, when a turbocharger is applied to the gas engine heat pumpsystem, an exhaust gas passes through the exhaust manifold to reach theturbocharger, thereby affecting turbine driving and adversely affectingengine efficiency due to an exhaust pressure difference generated duringthe turbine driving. Thus, it is difficult to sufficiently secure anamount of heat to be collected from the existing shell-tube type exhaustgas heat exchanger.

Also, when heat exchange occurs inside the exhaust gas heat exchanger,condensed water is generated at a gas line side to cause corrosion ofthe internal structure, thereby damaging the internal structure.

In addition, when the components such as the mixer, the turbochargingdevice, the intercooler, and the regulator are additionally provided tocompress and supply the mixed gas of the fuel and the air to the engine,a flow path of the mixed gas of the air and the fuel is complicated,unlike the related art, and thus, flow resistance of the mixed gasinevitably increases. Therefore, it is necessary to change the shape andarranged structure of the intake manifold and the regulator so that theflow resistance of the mixed gas is minimized.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Technical Problem

The present invention has been proposed to solve these problems, anobject of the present invention is to provide a gas heat pump systemcapable of improving performance of an engine by supercharging a mixedgas supplied to an engine.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas heatpump system capable of improving maximum power of an engine withoutincreasing in size of an engine.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas heatpump system in which an intercooler is mounted to decrease intemperature of a mixed gas supplied to an engine and increase indensity, thereby improving volume efficiency of the engine.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas heatpump system in which discharge of condensed water naturally occurs in anexhaust gas heat exchanger to prevent a phenomenon in which the exhaustgas heat exchanger corrodes or is damaged by the condensed water fromoccurring.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas heatpump system in which a separate structure for discharging condensedwater is not added to simplify a structure, reduce manufacturing costs,and increase in productivity.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas heatpump system in which both ends and a central portion of an exhaust gasheat exchanger are fixed to an engine to secure fixing force of theexhaust gas heat exchanger, thereby reducing vibration applied to theexhaust gas heat exchanger due to an effect of the engine.

In addition, an object of the present invention to provide a gas heatpump system in which an exhaust gas heat exchanger vibrates in the samedirection as an engine when the engine vibrates to prevent a relativemotion in which the engine and the exhaust gas heat exchanger vibrate inopposite directions from occurring.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas heatpump system in which a turbocharger and an exhaust gas heat exchangerare directly connected to each other so that it is advantageous inreducing exhaust differential pressure, and a separate structure forconnection is omitted.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas heatpump system in which an exhaust gas heat exchanger is disposed close toan exhaust manifold while newly mounting a fixing portion on a centralportion of the exhaust gas heat exchanger to minimize an effect ofvibration generated in an engine, which is applied to the exhaust gasheat exchanger.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas heatpump system in which components such as a turbocharging device, anintercooler, a regulator, and the like are fixed to an engine itselfrather than a separate structure that is separated from the engine toomit a structure for fixing each of the components.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas heatpump system in which each of components is fixed to an engine to reducedistances between a regulator and an intake manifold, between aturbocharging device and an exhaust manifold, and between an intercoolerand the turbocharging device to reduce a length of an entire tube,thereby reducing a surface area occupied by the tube.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas heatpump system in which components such as a turbocharging device, anintercooler, a regulator, and the like are fixed to an engine to preventa relative movement phenomenon in which the turbocharging device, theintercooler, the regulator, and the like move in opposite directionsfrom occurring when the engine is driven, so as to reduce vibrationapplied to a tube and a connected portion and prevent a phenomena inwhich the tube and various connected portions are loose or damaged bythe vibration, thereby improving durability and preventing safetyaccidents.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas heatpump system in which a turbocharging device is directly connected to anexhaust manifold to maximally collect energy of an exhaust gas from aturbine, and a regulator is directly connected to an intake manifold tomore precisely regulate an amount of mixed gas to be supplied.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas heatpump system in which a tube connecting an air filter to a mixer isprovided in a straight line to minimize intake resistance of air.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas heatpump system in which an oil supply line is newly installed so that aportion of an oil used in an engine passes through a rotation shaft of aturbocharger so that supply of the oil to the turbocharger is performedwithout a separate oil supply device, and the oil passing through theturbocharger passes through an engine oil cooler to prevent the oilsupplied to the turbocharger from increasing in temperature, therebypreventing carbonization of the oil and damage of the turbocharger fromoccurring.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas heatpump system in which an engine is driven until the engine stops in astate in which blocking an inflow of a mixed gas to burn a remainingmixed gas or discharge the remaining mixed gas to the outside, therebysuppressing an occurrence of formic acid and preventing safety accidentssuch as corrosion and explosion of the components from occurring.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas heatpump system in which an outlet of a regulator and an intake manifold aredirectly connected to fix the regulator to the intake manifold, therebyreducing intake resistance while realizing a compact structure.

Technical Solution

A gas heat pump system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention includes: an air-conditioning module comprising a compressor,an outdoor heat exchanger, an expansion device, an indoor heatexchanger, and a refrigerant tube; and an engine module comprising anengine in which a mixed gas of a fuel and air is burned to provide powerfor an operation of the compressor, wherein the engine module includes:a mixer in which the air and the fuel are mixed to be discharged; aturbocharging device configured to receive the mixed gas discharged fromthe mixer so as to compress and discharge the mixed gas; an intercoolerconfigured to receive the mixed gas compressed in the turbochargingdevice so as to cool the mixed gas in a heat-exchange manner to increasein density, thereby discharging the mixed gas; a regulator configured toreceive the mixed gas discharged from the intercooler so as to controlan amount of mixed gas and supply the mixed gas to the engine; and anexhaust gas heat exchanger configured to heat-exchange an exhaust gasdischarged from the engine with cooling water.

Also, the exhaust gas heat exchanger may have one side, through whichthe exhaust gas is introduced, and the other side through which theexhaust gas is discharged and which is lower than the one side so thatthe one side is disposed to be inclined downward to the other side.

Also, the turbocharging device may be provided as a turbocharger that isdriven by the exhaust gas of the engine, and the exhaust gas heatexchanger may be configured to receive the exhaust gas passing throughthe turbocharging device so as to be heat-exchanged with the coolingwater.

Also, a discharge hole of the turbocharging device and a suction hole ofthe heat exchanger may be directly connected to each other.

Also, each of the discharge hole of the turbocharging device and thesuction hole of the heat exchanger may be provided with a flangeprotruding along a circumference thereof, and in a state in which theflanges contact each other, the flanges may be coupled to be connectedto each other by using a coupling portion.

Also, the exhaust gas heat exchanger may be directly fixed to theengine.

The engine module may further include a grip portion having one sidecoupled to the exhaust gas heat exchanger in a manner of gripping theexhaust gas heat exchanger and the other side fixed to the engine.

Also, the other side of the exhaust gas heat exchanger, through whichthe exhaust gas is discharged, may be fixed to the engine by a separatesupport frame.

Also, an exhaust gas discharge tube provided to face a lower side, anextension portion extending in a direction crossing the exhaust gasdischarge tube, and a protrusion protruding downward from a bottomsurface of the extension portion may be disposed at the other side ofthe exhaust gas heat exchanger, and an upper end of the support framemay be disposed parallel to the extension portion so as to be coupled tothe protrusion at a lower side of the extension portion.

Also, the exhaust gas heat exchanger may include: a cooling water inflowtube which is provided at the other side through which the exhaust gasis discharged and into which the cooling water is introduced; a heatexchanging chamber in which the introduced cooling water and the exhaustgas are heat-exchanged with each other; and a cooling water dischargetube which is provided at one side through which the exhaust gas isintroduced and from which the cooling water heat-exchanged with theexhaust gas is discharged.

Also, the engine module may be provided with a cooling water pump and acooling water tube, through which the cooling water flows to the exhaustgas heat exchanger or the turbocharging device.

Also, the cooling water tube may include: a first main tube configuredto connect the cooling water pump to the cooling water inflow tube ofthe exhaust gas heat exchanger; and a second main tube configured toconnect the cooling water discharge tube of the exhaust gas heatexchanger to an exhaust manifold of the engine.

Also, a branch hole through which the cooling water is supplied towardthe turbocharging device may be defined in the cooling water dischargetube of the exhaust gas heat exchanger.

Also, the cooling water tube may include: a first branch tube configuredto the branch hole to the turbocharging device; and a second branch tubeconfigured to the turbocharging device to an exhaust manifold of theengine.

The cooling water tube may include a third main tube configured to guidethe cooling water passing through the exhaust manifold of the engine toa radiator.

Also, the exhaust gas passing through the exhaust gas heat exchanger mayflow to a silencer through an exhaust tube.

Also, condensed water generated in the exhaust gas heat exchanger mayflow along the exhaust tube and is discharged to the outside.

Also, the condensed water flowing to the exhaust tube may be dischargedto the outside through a condensed water discharge hole defined in adrain filter.

Also, the gas heat pump system may further include an intake manifoldinto which the mixed gas supplied from the regulator is introduced,wherein a first mixed gas inflow hole of the intake manifold and a firstmixed gas discharge hole of the regulator may be directly connected toeach other.

Also, the turbocharging device may be provided adjacent to an exhaustmanifold disposed on a first surface of the engine, the regulator may beprovided adjacent to the intake manifold disposed on a second surfaceopposite to the first surface, and the intercooler may be fixed to athird surface crossing the first surface and the second surface.

Also, the intercooler may be disposed above the turbocharging device orthe regulator.

Also, the intercooler may be provided with a discharge tube having adownwardly inclined shape so that the mixed gas is discharged toward theintake manifold.

Also, a connection tube having a bent shape and configured to guide aflow of the mixed gas downward from an upper side may be providedbetween the discharge tube and the second mixed gas inflow hole of theregulator.

Also, the mixed gas discharge hole of the regulator may be disposed toface a lower side, and the mixed gas inflow hole of the intake manifoldmay be disposed to face an upper side.

Also, the intake manifold may include: a main portion configured toguide the mixed gas, which is introduced downward through the mixed gasinflow hole, in a horizontal direction; and a plurality of branchportions, each of which communicates with the main portion, theplurality of branch portions being configured to guide the mixed gas,which is guided in the horizontal direction, upward in a verticaldirection so as to supply the mixed gas to the engine.

Also, the intake manifold may be disposed to be erected parallel to thesecond surface of the engine.

Also, the engine module may further include an air filter configured topurify external air, and at least a portion of an air tube configured toconnect the air filter to the mixer may have a straight-line shape.

Also, the air filter and the mixer may be fixed at the same height.

Advantageous Effects

According to the present invention, there is an advantage that thevolume efficiency is improved by supplying the mixed gas of the fuel andthe air, which is supplied to the gas engine to the engine, at a higherpressure than natural intake using the turbocharging device.

There is also an advantage that the engine and the entire system may bedownsized.

In addition, there is an advantage that it is possible to implement thelarge-capacity gas engine heat pump system using the small gas engine.

In addition, there is an advantage that the engine output increases ingas engine heat pump (GHP) using the gas fuel for the home.

In addition, there is an advantage that the volume efficiency of theengine is improved by decreasing in temperature of the mixer supplied tothe engine and increasing in density.

In addition, in the exhaust gas heat exchanger, the condensed waterdischarge may naturally occur to prevent the phenomenon in which theexhaust gas heat exchanger corrodes or is damaged by the condensed waterfrom occurring.

In addition, the separate structure for discharging the condensed watermay not be added to simplify a structure, reduce manufacturing costs,and increase in productivity.

In addition, both the ends and the central portion of the exhaust gasheat exchanger may be fixed to the engine to secure the fixing force ofthe exhaust gas heat exchanger, thereby reducing the vibration appliedto the exhaust gas heat exchanger due to the effect of the engine.

In addition, the exhaust gas heat exchanger may vibrate in the samedirection as the engine when the engine vibrates to prevent the relativemovement in which the engine and the exhaust gas heat exchanger vibratein opposite directions from occurring.

In addition, the turbocharger and the exhaust gas heat exchanger may bedirectly connected to each other so that it is advantageous in reducingthe exhaust differential pressure, and the separate structure forconnection is omitted.

In addition, the exhaust gas heat exchanger may be disposed close to theexhaust manifold while newly mounting the fixing portion on the centralportion of the exhaust gas heat exchanger to minimize the effect of thevibration generated in the engine, which is applied to the exhaust gasheat exchanger.

In addition, the components such as the turbocharging device, theintercooler, the regulator, and the like may be fixed to the engineitself rather than the separate structure that is separated from theengine to omit the structure for fixing each of the components.

In addition, each of the components may be fixed to the engine to reducethe distances between the regulator and the intake manifold, between theturbocharging device and the exhaust manifold, and between theintercooler and the turbocharging device and thus reduce the length ofthe entire tube, thereby reducing the surface area occupied by the tube.

In addition, the components such as the turbocharging device, theintercooler, the regulator, and the like are fixed to the engine toprevent the relative movement phenomenon in which the turbochargingdevice, the intercooler, the regulator, and the like move in oppositedirections from occurring when the engine is driven, so as to reduce thevibration applied to the tube and the connected portion and prevent thephenomena in which the tube and the various connected portions are looseor damaged by the vibration, thereby improving the durability andpreventing the safety accidents.

In addition, the turbocharging device may be directly connected to theexhaust manifold to maximally collect the energy of the exhaust gas fromthe turbine, and the regulator may be directly connected to the intakemanifold to more precisely regulate the amount of mixed gas to besupplied.

In addition, the tube connecting the air filter to the mixer may beprovided in the straight line to minimize the intake resistance of theair.

In addition, the oil supply line may be newly installed so that aportion of the oil used in the engine passes through the rotation shaftof the turbocharger so that supply of the oil to the turbocharger isperformed without the separate oil supply device, and the oil passingthrough the turbocharger passes through the engine oil cooler to preventthe oil supplied to the turbocharger from increasing in temperature,thereby preventing the carbonization of the oil and damage of theturbocharger from occurring.

In addition, the engine may be driven until the engine stops in thestate in which blocking the inflow of the mixed gas to burn theremaining mixed gas or discharge the remaining mixed gas to the outside,thereby suppressing the occurrence of the formic acid and preventing thesafety accidents such as the corrosion and the explosion of thecomponents from occurring.

In addition, the outlet of the regulator and the intake manifold may bedirectly connected to fix the regulator to the intake manifold, therebyreducing the intake resistance while realizing the compact structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cycle view illustrating a configuration of a gas heat pumpsystem according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cycle view illustrating a flow of a refrigerant, coolingwater, and a mixed fuel during a heating operation of the gas heat pumpsystem.

FIG. 3 is a cycle view illustrating a flow of the refrigerant, thecooling water, and the mixed fuel during a cooling operation of the gasheat pump system.

FIG. 4 is a system view illustrating an example of an engine module thatis one of components according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a system view of an engine module according to anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the engine module that is one of thecomponents when viewed in a direction of an exhaust manifold accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a flow of cooling water in the enginemodule of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the engine module that is one of thecomponents when viewed in a direction of an intake manifold according tothe present invention.

FIG. 9 is a front view illustrating a state in which an exhaust gas heatexchanger is mounted on the engine module.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the exhaust gas heat exchanger that isone of the components according to an embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a front view illustrating further another example of theengine module.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the engine modulethat is one of the components according to an embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a view illustrating a flow of air in the engine module ofFIG. 8.

FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view illustrating another example ofthe engine module that is one of the components according to anembodiment.

FIGS. 15A and 15B are views illustrating a configuration of an enginemodule having no supercharging function according to a related art.

FIGS. 16A and 16B are views illustrating a configuration of an enginemodule having a supercharging function according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the engine module provided with acooling water pump.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described with reference tothe accompanying drawings. The invention may, however, be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as being limited to theembodiments set forth herein; rather, that alternate embodimentsincluded in other retrogressive inventions or falling within the spiritand scope of the present disclosure will fully convey the concept of theinvention to those skilled in the art.

FIG. 1 is a cycle view illustrating a configuration of a gas heat pumpsystem according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a gas heat pump system 10 according to a firstembodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of components,which constitute a refrigerant cycle of an air-conditioning system. Indetail, the refrigerant cycle include a compressor 110 that compressesthe refrigerant, an oil separator 115 that separates oil form therefrigerant compressed by the compressor 110, and a four-way valve 117that converts a direction of the refrigerant passing through the oilseparator 115.

The gas heat pump system 10 further includes an outdoor heat exchanger120 and an indoor heat exchanger 140. The outdoor heat exchanger 120 maybe provided in an outdoor unit disposed at an outdoor side, and theindoor heat exchanger 140 may be provided in the indoor unit disposed atan indoor side. The refrigerant passing through the four-way valve 117flows to the outdoor heat exchanger 120 or the indoor heat exchanger140.

The components of the system illustrated in FIG. 1 may be disposed atthe outdoor side, that is, inside the outdoor unit, except for theindoor heat exchanger 140 and an indoor expansion device 145.

In detail, when the system 10 operate in a cooling operation mode, therefrigerant passing through the four-way valve 117 flows toward theindoor heat exchanger 140 via the outdoor heat exchanger 120. On theother hand, when the system 10 operates in a heating operation mode, therefrigerant passing through the four-way valve 117 flows toward theoutdoor heat exchanger 120 via the indoor heat exchanger 140.

The system 10 further includes a refrigerant tube 170 (solid linepassage) that connects the compressor 110, the outdoor heat exchanger120, and the indoor heat exchanger 140 to each other to guide a flow ofthe refrigerant.

A configuration of the system 10 will be described based on the coolingoperation mode.

The refrigerant flowing to the outdoor heat exchanger 120 may becondensed by being heat-exchanged with external air. An outdoor fan 122that blows the external air is provided at one side of the outdoor heatexchanger 120.

A main expansion device 125 that depressurizes the refrigerant may beprovided at an outlet-side of the outdoor heat exchanger 120. Forexample, the main expansion device 125 may include an electronicexpansion valve (EEV). When the cooling operation is performed, the mainexpansion device 125 is fully opened, and thus, the refrigerant is notdepressurized.

A supercooling heat exchanger 130, which additionally cools therefrigerant, is provided at an outlet-side of the main expansion device125. A supercooling passage 132 is connected to the supercooling heatexchanger 130. The supercooling passage 132 is branched from therefrigerant tube 170 and connected to the supercooling heat exchanger130.

Also, a supercooling expansion device 135 is installed in thesupercooling passage 132. The refrigerant flowing through thesupercooling passage 132 may be depressurized while passing through thesupercooling expansion device 135.

In the supercooling heat exchanger 130, heat exchange may be performedbetween the refrigerant in the refrigerant tube 170 and the refrigerantin the supercooling passage 132. In the heat exchange process, therefrigerant in the refrigerant tube 170 is supercooled to absorb heat ofthe refrigerant in the supercooling passage 132.

The supercooling passage 132 is connected to the gas/liquid separator160. The refrigerant in the supercooling passage 132 heat-exchanged inthe supercooling heat exchanger 130 may be introduced into thegas/liquid separator 160.

The refrigerant in the refrigerant tube 170, which passes through thesupercooling heat exchanger 130, flows toward the indoor unit and thenis depressurized in the indoor expansion device 145 and evaporated inthe indoor heat exchanger 140. The indoor expansion device 145 may beinstalled inside the indoor unit and may be provided as the electronicexpansion valve (EEV).

The refrigerant evaporated from the indoor heat exchanger 140 flows toan auxiliary heat exchanger 150 via the four-way valve 117. Theauxiliary heat exchanger 150 may be a heat exchanger that is capable ofbeing heat-exchanged between an evaporated low-pressure refrigerant andhigh-temperature cooling water. For example, the auxiliary heatexchanger 150 may include a plate heat exchanger.

Since the refrigerant evaporated in the indoor heat exchanger 140 mayabsorb heat while passing through the auxiliary heat exchanger 150 toimprove evaporation efficiency. Also, the refrigerant pass through theauxiliary heat exchanger 150 may be introduced into the gas/liquidseparator 160.

The refrigerant that passing through the auxiliary heat exchanger 150 isdivided into a gas and a liquid in the gas/liquid separator 160, and theseparated gas-phase refrigerant may be suctioned into the compressor110.

In addition, the refrigerant evaporated from the indoor heat exchanger140 may be introduced into the gas/liquid separator 160 immediatelyafter passing through the four-way valve 117, and the separated gaseousrefrigerant is suctioned into the compressor 110.

The gas heat pump system 10 further includes a cooling water tank 305,in which cooling water for cooling the engine 200 is stored, and acooling water tube 360 (dotted passage) that guides a flow of thecooling water. A cooling water pump 300 that generates flow force of thecooling water, a plurality of flow switching portions 310 and 320 thatswitch a flow direction of the cooling water, and a radiator 330 thatcools the cooling water may be installed in the cooling water tube 36.

The plurality of flow switching portions 310 and 320 include a firstflow switching portion 310 and a second flow switching portion 320. Forexample, each of the first flow switching portion 310 and the secondflow switching portion 320 may include a three-way valve.

The radiator 330 may be installed at one side of the outdoor heatexchanger 120, and the cooling water passing through the radiator 330may be heat-exchanged with external air by driving the outdoor fan 122.In this process, the refrigerant may be cooled.

When the cooling water pump 300 is driven, the cooling water stored inthe cooling water tank 305 may pass through the engine 200 and anexhaust gas heat exchanger 240, which will be described later, and thenpass through the first flow switching portion 310 and the second flowswitching portion 320 to selectively flow to the radiator 330 or theauxiliary heat exchanger 150.

The gas heat pump system 10 includes an engine 200 that generates powerfor driving the compressor 110 and a mixer 220 that is disposed at aninlet side of the engine 200 to supply a mixed fuel.

Also, the gas heat pump system 10 includes an air filter 210 thatsupplies purified air to the mixer 220 and a zero governor 230 forsupplying a fuel having a predetermined pressure or less. The zerogovernor may be understood as a device that constantly regulates andsupplies an outlet pressure regardless of a change of a magnitude orflow rate of an inlet pressure of the fuel.

The air passing through the air filter 210 and the fuel discharged fromthe zero governor 230 are mixed in the mixer 220 to form a mixed gas. Inaddition, the mixed gas may be supplied to the engine 200.

In addition, the gas heat pump system 10 further include an exhaust gasheat exchanger 240 which is provided at an outlet side of the engine andinto which an exhaust gas generated after the mixed gas is burned isintroduced and a muffler 250 provided at an outlet side of the exhaustgas heat exchanger 240 to reduce noise of the exhaust gas. In theexhaust gas heat exchanger 240, heat exchange may be performed betweenthe cooling water and the exhaust gas.

Also, an oil tank 205 for supplying an oil to the engine 200 may beprovided at one side of the engine 200.

As described above, the engine 200 applied to the gas heat pump system10 uses household LNG or LPG as a fuel.

However, when supplying air to the engine 200 in a natural intakemanner, and supplying the household LNG or LPG as a fuel, there is aproblem in that an output of the engine 200 is reduced due to a lowsupply pressure (1 kPa to 2.5 kPa).

Also, in the summer, the gas heat pump system 10 operates in a coolingmode to reduce a temperature in the room. When the outdoor temperatureis high, high-temperature air is supplied to the engine 200 due to thehigh temperature.

Thus, low-density air is supplied to the engine 200 to reduce an outputof the engine 200. As a result, the output of the engine 200 may not bemaintained with a high cooling load, which causes cooling failure.

Also, to solve this problem, like an engine of a vehicle, afterpressurizing air by using a turbocharger, when supplying the fuel whileadjusting an amount of fuel according to the air amount, a supplypressure (about 2.5 kPa) of the gas fuel within tube is less than asupercharging pressure (about 30 kPa), and thus, there is also a problemin that it is difficult to supply the fuel.

In case of the present invention, in order to solve this problem, aturbocharging device 400 and a regulator 600 are provided between themixer 220 and the engine 200.

In detail, after the air and fuel are mixed in the mixer 220, theturbocharging device 400 compresses the discharged mixed gas todischarge the mixed gas toward the engine 200. Here, the turbochargingdevice 400 may compress the air and the fuel in the mixer 220 at anatmospheric pressure or more.

For example, the turbocharging device 400 is provided as a turbochargerdriven by the exhaust gas of the engine 200.

For another example, the turbocharging device 400 may be provided as asupercharger driven by power of the engine 200 or an electric motor.

Also, the regulator 600 is disposed between the turbocharging device 400and the engine 200 to control an amount of compressed mixed gas suppliedto the engine 200.

For example, the regulator 600 may be provided as a valve to which anelectronic throttle control (ETC) manner is applied.

According to the present invention, the fuel and the air are mixed inthe mixer 220, and after being pressurized at a high pressure in theturbocharging device 400, the mixed gas may be supplied to the engine200. Also, an amount of high-pressure mixed gas (air+fuel) supplied tothe engine 200 through the regulator 600 may be precisely controlled.

Therefore, efficiency of the engine 200 may be improved. Also, a maximumoutput of the engine 200 may increase without increasing in size of theengine 200. That is, an output of a large engine may be realized with asmall engine.

When the mixed gas passes through the turbocharging device 400 asdescribed above, the pressure and temperature of the mixed gas increase.In this case, a density of the mixed gas suctioned into the engine 200is reduced, and volume efficiency of the engine inevitably decreases.

In case of the present invention, in order to solve this, an intercooler500 that cools the high-temperature high-pressure mixed gas dischargedfrom the turbocharging device 400 to decrease in volume and increase indensity so as to discharge the mixed gas is provided between theturbocharging device 400 and the regulator 600.

For example, the intercooler 500 may allow external air or cooling waterto be heat-exchanged with the mixed gas.

According to this, it is possible to decrease in temperature of themixed gas supplied to the engine 200 and increase in density of themixed gas, thereby improving the volume efficiency of the engine 200.

When the turbocharging device 400 and the intercooler 500 are providedbetween the mixer 220 and the engine 200 as described above, a length ofthe passage in which the mixed gas stays inevitably increases. Here, ifthere is a large amount of moisture in the air, the mixed gas and waterreact to generate formic acid to damages the tube, thereby increasing inrisk of explosion.

In case of the present invention, when an ‘operation stop command’ isinput from a manager so as to prevent this phenomenon, the engine 200 isdriven until the engine 200 stops in a closed state of the regulator600, to burn the mixed gas, or the mixed gas is discharged to theoutside to suppress an occurrence of formic acid, thereby preventing arisk of damage and explosion of the tube.

Also, the intercooler 500 may be made of a corrosion-resistant material(e.g., STS316).

The cooling water tube 360 includes a first tube 361 extending from theradiator 305 toward the engine 200. In detail, the first tube 361 mayinclude a first tube portion extending from the cooling water tan 305 tothe exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 and a second tube portion extendingfrom the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 to the engine 200. Thus, thecooling water supplied from the cooling water tank 305 is heat-exchangedwith the exhaust gas while passing through the exhaust gas heatexchanger 240 and then is introduced into the engine 200 to collectwaste heat of the engine 200. Also, the first tube 361 may be providedwith a cooling water pump 300 that generates a flow of the coolingwater.

The cooling water tube 360 further includes a second tube 362 thatguides the cooling water passing through the engine 200 to the firstflow switching portion 310.

Also, the cooling water tube 360 further includes a third tube 363 thatguides the cooling water from the first flow switching portion 310 tothe second flow switching portion 320.

Also, the cooling water tube 360 further includes a fourth tube 364 thatguides the cooling water from the second flow switching portion 320 tothe auxiliary heat exchanger 150.

The cooling water tube 360 further includes a fifth tube 365 that guidesthe cooling water from the second flow switching portion 320 to theradiator 150.

The cooling water tube 360 further includes a sixth tube 366 that guidesthe cooling water from the first flow switching portion 310 to the firsttube 361.

For example, when a temperature of the cooling water passing through theengine 200 is below a predetermined temperature, an effect of beingheat-exchanged by allowing the cooling water to flow to the auxiliaryheat exchanger 150 or the radiator 330 may be insignificant. Thus, thecooling water introduced into the first flow switching portion 310 maybe bypassed to the first tube 361 through the sixth tube 366. The sixthtube 366 may be referred to as “bypass tube”.

The gas heat pump system 10 may further include a cooling watertemperature sensor 290 installed at an outlet side of the engine 200 tosense a temperature of the cooling water passing through the engine 200.

Hereinafter, effects of the refrigerant, the cooling water, and themixed fuel according to the operation mode of the gas heat pump system10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed.

FIG. 2 is a cycle view illustrating a flow of the refrigerant, thecooling water, and the mixed fuel during a heating operation of the gasheat pump system.

First, when the gas heat pump system 10 performs a heating operation,the refrigerant passes through the compressor 110, the oil separator115, the four-way valve 117, the indoor heat exchanger 140, and thesupercooled heat exchanger 130 and is decompressed in the main expansiondevice 125 so as to be heat-exchanged in the outdoor heat exchanger 120and then is introduced again into the four-way valve 117. Here, theindoor heat exchanger 140 may function as a “condenser”, and the outdoorheat exchanger 120 may function as an “evaporator”.

The refrigerant passing through the four-way valve 117 may flow into theauxiliary heat exchanger 150 so as to be heat-exchanged with the coolingwater flowing through the fourth tube 364. The refrigerant flowing intothe auxiliary heat exchanger 150 provides a low temperature and lowpressure as an evaporated refrigerant, and the cooling water supplied tothe auxiliary heat exchanger 150 provides a high temperature by heat ofthe engine 200. Thus, the refrigerant of the auxiliary heat exchanger150 may absorb heat from the cooling water to improve evaporationperformance.

The refrigerant heat-exchanged in the auxiliary heat exchanger 150 maybe introduced into the gas/liquid separator 160 so as to bephase-separated and then be suctioned into the compressor 110. Therefrigerant may repeatedly flow.

When the cooling water pump 300 is driven, the cooling water dischargedfrom the cooling water pump 300 flows into the exhaust gas heatexchanger 240 along the first tube 361 so as to be heat-exchanged withthe exhaust gas. Then, the cooling water discharged from the exhaust gasheat exchanger 240 flows into the engine 200 to cool the engine 200 andthen is introduced into the first flow switching portion 310 via thesecond tube 362.

The cooling water passing through the first flow switching portion 310may flow toward the second flow switching portion 320 along the thirdtube 363 by control of the first flow switching portion 310. Also, thecooling water passing through the second flow switching portion 320 maybe introduced into the auxiliary heat exchanger 150 via the fourth tube364 and then be heat-exchanged with the refrigerant. Then, the coolingwater passing through the auxiliary heat exchanger 150 is introducedinto the cooling water pump 300. The cooling water may flow through thiscycle repeatedly.

When the heating operation is performed, the flow of cooling water tothe radiator 330 may be restricted. In general, since the heatingoperation is performed when the external air has a low temperature, evenif the cooling water is not cooled in the radiator 330, possibility ofcooling in the process of flowing along the cooling water tube 360increases. Thus, during the heating operation, the first and second flowswitching portions 310 and 320 may be controlled so that the coolingwater does not pass through the radiator 330.

However, when heat exchange in the auxiliary heat exchanger 150 is notrequired, the cooling water may be introduced from the second flowswitching portion 320 into the radiator 330 via the fifth tube 365.

The driving of the engine 200 will be described.

The air filtered by the air filter 210 and the fuel regulated inpressure through the zero governor 230 are mixed in the mixer 220. Themixed gas mixed in the mixer 220 is pressurized by the turbochargingdevice 400, and the pressurized mixed gas is cooled in the intercooler500 to increase in density. An amount of mixed gas passing through theintercooler 500 is adjusted through the regulator 600 and supplied tothe engine 200 to drive the engine 200. Then, the exhaust gas dischargedfrom the engine 200 flows into the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 so asto be heat-exchanged with the cooling water and then is discharged tothe outside through the muffler 250.

FIG. 3 is a cycle view illustrating a flow of the refrigerant, thecooling water, and the mixed fuel during a cooling operation of the gasheat pump system.

When the gas heat pump system 10 performs a cooling operation, therefrigerant passes through the compressor 110, the oil separator 115,the four-way valve 117, the outdoor heat exchanger 120, and thesupercooled heat exchanger 130 and is decompressed in the indoorexpansion device 145 so as to be heat-exchanged in the indoor heatexchanger 140 and then is introduced again into the four-way valve 117.Here, the outdoor heat exchanger 120 may function as a “condenser”, andthe indoor heat exchanger 120 may function as an “evaporator”.

The refrigerant passing through the four-way valve 117 may flow into theauxiliary heat exchanger 150 so as to be heat-exchanged with the coolingwater flowing through the cooling water tube 360. Also, the refrigerantheat-exchanged in the auxiliary heat exchanger 150 may be introducedinto the gas/liquid separator 160 so as to be phase-separated and thenbe suctioned into the compressor 110. The refrigerant may repeatedlyflow.

When the cooling water pump 300 is driven, the cooling water dischargedfrom the cooling water pump 300 flows into the exhaust gas heatexchanger 240 so as to be heat-exchanged with the exhaust gas. Then, thecooling water discharged from the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 flowsinto the engine 200 to cool the engine 200 and then is introduced intothe first flow switching portion 310. The flow of the cooling wateruntil the cooling water flows into the first flow switching portion 310is the same as the flow of the cooling water during the heatingoperation.

The cooling water passing through the first flow switching portion 310is introduced into the second flow switching portion 320 to flow to theradiator 330 under the control of the second flow switching portion 320so as to be heat-exchanged with the external air. Then, the coolingwater cooled in the radiator 330 is introduced into the cooling waterpump 300. The cooling water may flow through this cycle repeatedly.

During the cooling operation, the flow of the cooling water to theauxiliary heat exchanger 150 may be restricted. In general, since thecooling operation is performed when the temperature of the external airis high, heat absorption of the evaporating refrigerant for securingevaporation performance may not be required. Thus, in the coolingoperation, the first and second flow switching portions 310 and 320 maybe controlled so that the cooling water does not pass through theauxiliary heat exchanger 150.

However, when the heat exchange in the auxiliary heat exchanger 150 isrequired, the cooling water may be introduced into the auxiliary heatexchanger 150 via the second flow switching portion 320.

Regarding the driving of the engine 200, the same operation as duringthe heating operation is omitted here.

FIG. 4 is a system view illustrating an example of an engine module thatis one of components according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the turbocharging device 400 may be provided as aturbocharger.

The ‘turbocharger’ uses the exhaust gas discharged from the engine 200to allow the turbine 411 to rotate and then pressurizes (compresses) thegas introduced by rotational force to discharge the gas.

Thus, when the turbocharging device 400 is provided as a turbocharger,the turbocharger is connected to an exhaust manifold of the engine 200through an exhaust tube 191 to rotates, and when the mixed gas mixed inthe mixer is introduced, the mixed gas is pressurized (compressed) andthen discharged toward the intercooler 500.

Also, a rotation shaft of the turbocharger may receive an oil from theengine 200 for purposes such as lubrication.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the engine module may further include an oiltank 205 provided outside the engine 200 to store the oil, an oil supplytube 206 supplying the oil of the oil tank 205 to the inside of theengine 200, an oil pump 207 providing power for transferring the oilcollected in an oil pan (not shown) inside the engine 200 to the oiltank 205, and an oil supply tube (not shown) connected to the oil pump207 to supply at least a portion of the oil transferred to the oil pump207 to the turbocharging device 400.

That is, when the engine 200 is driven, a portion of the oil circulatedby the oil pump constitutes an additional flow path to the turbochargingdevice 400.

As described above, the oil supplied to the turbocharging device 400 maybe collected to an oil tank outside the engine 200 after passing throughthe rotation shaft (power transmission shaft connecting the turbine tothe compressor) of the turbocharging device 400.

In this embodiment, a temperature sensor may be attached to a point atwhich the oil is introduced into the turbocharging device 400 and apoint at which the oil is discharged from the turbocharging device 400.

Also, after sensing a temperature change of the oil through thetemperature sensor, when the oil temperature excessively increases, theoil used in the turbocharging device 400 is cooled by using an oilcooler (not shown). Thus, damage to the turbocharging device 400 by thehigh-temperature oil may be prevented, and oil carbonization may beprevented.

When the turbocharging device 400 is a turbocharger as described above,heat dissipation of the turbocharger is required. For example, theturbocharger may dissipate heat while being heat-exchanged with thecooling water.

For the heat dissipation of the turbocharger, the cooling water tube 360may include a first cooling water tube 360 a and a second cooling watertube 360 b.

In detail, the first cooling water tube 360 a is disposed between theexhaust gas heat exchanger 240 and the engine 200 to guide the coolingwater passing through the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 toward theengine 200.

For another example, the first cooling water tube 360 a may also includea cooling water tube before passing through the exhaust gas heatexchanger 240. That is, the first cooling water tube 360 a may mean thecooling water tube between the cooling water pump 300 and the engine200.

The second cooling water tube 360 b is branched from the first coolingwater tube 360 a so that at least a portion of the cooling water flowingthrough the first cooling water tube 360 a is heat-exchanged with theturbocharging device 400. The cooling water introduced into the secondcooling water tube 360 a flows to the engine 200 after passing throughthe turbocharging device 400.

Here, the second cooling water tube 360 b is branched from the firstcooling water tube 360 a before the turbocharging device 400, and afterpassing through the turbocharging device 400, the first cooling watertube 360 a is combined with the first cooling water tube 360 a so thatthe cooling water is supplied to the engine 200.

The turbocharging device 400 may be provided as a supercharger.

The supercharger generates rotational force by the power of the engine200 or by an electric motor to pressurizes (compresses) the introducedgas to discharge the gas. Thus, when the turbocharging device 400 isprovided as the supercharger, the supercharger may pressurizes(supercharges) the mixed gas that is mixed in the mixer by using thepower of the engine 200 or the rotational force of the electric motor todischarge the mixed gas toward the intercooler 500.

In general, the supercharger operates stably in a low-rotation regionand tends to cause an output loss in a high-rotation region. Thus, thesupercharger or the turbocharger may be selected and used as theturbocharging device 400 according to the operating conditions of theengine, the required output conditions, and the like.

When the turbocharging device 400 is the supercharger as describedabove, since the heat dissipation problem is not prominent like theturbocharger, there is no need to additionally install the cooling watertube for cooling the turbocharging device 400. Thus, there is anadvantage that the structure of the passage is simplified, spaceutilization is improved, and miniaturization is possible.

Hereinafter, the structure of the ‘engine module’ which is a maincomponent of the present invention will be described in more detail.

FIG. 5 is a system view of an engine module according to anotherembodiment of the present invention. Also, FIG. 6 is a perspective viewof the engine module that is one of the components when viewed in adirection of an exhaust manifold according to the present invention.Also, FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a flow of cooling water in theengine module of FIG. 6. Also, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of theengine module that is one of the components when viewed in a directionof an intake manifold according to the present invention.

In the following description, a case in which a turbocharging device 400is provided as a ‘turbocharger’ will be described as an example, but thescope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and theturbocharging device 400 may be applied in various manners known in theart.

The turbocharger 400 includes a turbine chamber 410 that receives anexhaust gas so that a turbine 411 disposed therein rotates, acompression chamber 420 in which a mixed gas supplied from the mixer 220is compressed while rotating together with the turbine 411, and arotation shaft 430 transmitting rotational force of the turbine chamber410 to the compression chamber 420. Also, the compression chamber 420may be provided with an impeller 421 that is connected to the rotationshaft 430 to rotates so as to compress the mixed gas introduced into thecompression chamber 420.

The exhaust gas discharged from the exhaust manifold 270 is immediatelyintroduced into the turbine chamber 410 to allow the turbine 411 torotate, and the rotational force is transmitted to the compressionchamber 420 through the rotation shaft 430. Also, the mixed gas suppliedfrom the mixer 220 is compressed by the rotating impeller 421 connectedto the rotation shaft 430 while passing through the inside of thecompression chamber 420, and then discharged to the outside of thecompression chamber 420. In this process, the compression of the mixedgas may be performed.

The turbine chamber 410 includes an inflow hole through which theexhaust gas discharged from the exhaust manifold 270 of the engine 200flows and a discharge hole through which the exhaust gas is dischargedafter allowing the turbine 411 to rotate.

Here, the inflow hole of the turbine chamber 410 may be directlyconnected to an exhaust gas discharge hole 271 (see FIG. 12) defined inthe exhaust manifold 270 of the engine 200. When the inflow hole and theexhaust gas discharge hole 271 of the turbine chamber 410 are directlyconnected as described above, a tube connecting the inflow hole to theexhaust gas discharge hole may be omitted, and thus, a structure thereofmay be simplified, and a flow path of the exhaust gas may be shortened.Therefore, the power of the exhaust gas in the turbine chamber 410 maybe maximally collected.

The compression chamber 420 includes a second inflow hole 422 (see FIG.12) through which the mixed gas discharged from the mixer 220 flows anda second discharge hole 423 (FIG. 12) through which the compressed mixedgas is discharged. The second inflow hole 422 and the second dischargehole 423 communicate with a space within the compression chamber 420.Thus, the mixed gas mixed in the mixer 220 flows into the compressionchamber 420 through the second inflow hole 422 and is compressed by therotating impeller 421. Thereafter, the compressed mixed gas isdischarged to the outside of the compression chamber 420 through thesecond discharge hole 423.

The compressed mixed gas discharged out of the compression chamber 420as described above flows to the intercooler 500 to increase in density.

For example, the intercooler 500 may include a body portion 510providing a space in which heat exchange between the cooling watersupplied from the outside and the compressed mixed gas is performed andhaving both opened sides, an inflow portion 520 disposed at the openedone side of the body portion 510 and having an inflow hole 521 (see FIG.12) connected to an outlet side of the turbocharging device 400, and adischarge portion 530 having a discharge hole 531 (see FIG. 12) definedin the other side of the body portion 510 and connected to an inlet sideof the regulator 600.

Also, the intercooler 500 may be disposed above the turbocharging device400 and the regulator 600, the inflow hole 521 of the intercooler 500and the discharge hole 423 of the turbocharging device 400 may beprovided to be inclined downward from the intercooler 500 side towardthe turbocharging device 400 and may be connected to each other througha first connector 810 that is bent in the form of ‘U’ or ‘J’.

Also, the discharge hole 531 of the intercooler 500 is directlyconnected to the inflow hole 610 of the regulator 600 (see FIG. 12) oris provided to be inclined downward from the intercooler 500 toward theregulator 600. The discharge hole 531 and the inflow hole 610 may beconnected to each other through a second connection tube 820 that isbent in the form of ‘┐’.

The mixer 220 may be fixed to the intercooler 500.

For this, a mixer coupling portion 560 to which the mixer 220 is coupledmay be disposed at the inflow portion 520 of the intercooler 500.

The mixer coupling part 560 has a hollow shape so that the mixed gas isdischarged to the turbocharging device 400 after the mixed gas passingthrough the mixer 220 is introduced.

Thus, the mixed gas discharged from the mixer 220 may pass through thehollow 561 of the mixer coupling part 560 and then be introduced intothe turbocharging device 400 through the third tube (see referencenumeral ‘830’ in FIG. 12) that is bent in the form of ‘⊏’.

Also, the engine module further includes an air filter 210 for purifyingexternal air, and at least a portion of an air tube 215 connecting theair filter 210 to the mixer 220 may be provided in a straight line.

When the air tube 215 is provided in a straight line as described above,air flowability may be improved. That is, in a straight-line section,the flow of the air is smoothly performed so that the air supply to themixer 220 is easily performed.

In addition, a portion of the air tube 215 may be provided in the formof a curve.

Also, the air filter 210 and the mixer 220 may be fixed at the sameheight.

When the air filter 210 and the mixer 220 are fixed to the same heightas described above, the air flow is more smoothly performed, and thus,the air supply to the mixer 220 may be more easily performed.

According to the present invention as described above, it is possible tominimize air intake resistance of the mixer 220 by providing the airtube 215 connecting the air filter 210 to the mixer 220 in a horizontaland straight line.

The engine module includes a cooling module.

For example, the cooling module may include a cooling water tank 305 inwhich cooling water is stored, a cooling water pump 300 generating aflow of the cooling water, and a plurality of tubes 360 supplying thecooling water discharged from the cooling water pump 300 to the engine200 and the turbocharging device 400. Also, the engine module furtherincludes an exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 in which the exhaust gaspassing through the turbocharging device 400 is heat-exchanged with thecooling water to collect heat generated in the engine.

The existing exhaust gas heat exchanger is provided in the form of ashell tube, which is attached directly to the exhaust manifold. However,according to the present invention, when a turbocharger is additionallyapplied between the exhaust manifold and the exhaust gas heat exchanger,the exhaust gas discharged from the exhaust manifold passes through theturbocharger before flowing to the exhaust gas heat exchanger to affectthe driving of the turbine and also adversely affect engine efficientdue to an exhaust gas pressure difference generated when the turbine isdriven, and thus, it is difficult to sufficiently secure an amount ofheat to be collected in the existing shell-tube type exhaust gas heatexchanger.

Thus, it is necessary to apply the exhaust gas heat exchanger having theimproved effect in terms of the differential pressure, andsimultaneously, it is necessary to change the coupling type andstructural position with the turbocharger.

As described above, when the turbocharging device 400 is provided as theturbocharger, it is necessary to collect heat generated in theturbocharger by sufficiently circulating the cooling water so as tosecure reliability.

In detail, when a temperature of the turbocharger is excessivelyoverheated and increases above a certain level, the components of theturbocharger are damaged due to thermal deformation and resultingfatigue destruction.

Since this affects the reliability of the turbocharging device and theentire system, it is necessary to sufficiently circulate the coolingwater so as to discharge the heat generated by the turbocharger. Ingeneral, in case of the turbocharger, since heat is generated bycompressing the mixed gas in an impeller, and the exhaust gas isinjected into the turbine at a high temperature to generate power, thetemperature is generally high.

However, if a separate cooling water line including a circulation pumpis additionally installed to cool the turbocharger, a volume and weightof the entire system increases, and manufacturing costs increase.

In the case of the general engine module, a cooling water passage fordischarging heat generated in the engine 200 is provided.

Therefore, in case of the present invention, a method of cooling theturbocharger in a simple manner in a portion of the cooling watersupplied to the engine 200 is branched and injected into theturbocharger is adopted.

In detail, a cooling water flow direction in the gas engine heat pumppasses through the exhaust gas heat exchanger to flow toward the exhaustmanifold with respect to the cooling water pump and then is introducedinto the engine. Also, the turbocharger applied to the gas engine heatpump according to the present invention has a structure in which theturbocharger is directly attached to the exhaust manifold, and thenexhaust gas heat exchanger is fixed. Thus, in the configuration of thecooling water passage for the turbocharger, the cooling of theturbocharger may be performed in a manner in which a portion of thecooling water used in the exhaust gas heat exchanger is extracted andinjected into the turbocharger, and the cooling water passing throughthe turbocharger is combined toward the cooling water passage of theexhaust manifold.

For this, the cooling water tube 360 includes main tubes 367 a and 367 bsupplying the cooling water to the exhaust manifold 270 of the engine200 and branch tubes 368 a and 368 b supplying the cooling water to theturbocharging device 400.

The exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 includes a cooling water inflow tube243 through which the cooling water supplied from the cooling water pump300 flows, a heat exchange chamber 244 in which the cooling waterintroduced into the cooling water inflow tube 243 and the exhaust gasintroduced into the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 are heat-exchangedwith each other, and a cooling water discharge tube 245 through whichthe cooling water heat-exchanged with the exhaust gas is discharged.

Here, a flow direction of the cooling water and a flow direction of theexhaust gas may be provided in opposite directions.

In detail, referring to FIG. 6, the tube may be connected so that theexhaust gas flows from left to right, and the cooling water flows fromright to left.

As described above, when the cooling water and the exhaust gas flow indirections crossing each other, the exhaust gas and the cooling watercross each other, and thus, the heat exchange between the cooling waterand the exhaust gas may more quickly and uniformly performed.

Also, the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 may be directly fixed to theengine 200. In detail, the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 may bedirectly fixed to the exhaust manifold 270 of the engine 200. Her, afixing portion such as a clamp for fixing the exhaust gas heat exchanger240 to the exhaust manifold 270 may be separately provided.

For example, the engine module further include a grip portion 810coupled to the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 in a manner of gripping acentral portion of the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 and having theother side fixed to the engine 200.

For example, the grip portion 810 may be provided in a clamping manner.

Also, the grip portion 810 may be provided in a type in which one sidethereof gripping the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 is tightened. Indetail, when one side of the grip portion 810 is tightened using a screwor the like, an inner space is reduced, and the exhaust gas heatexchanger 240 fitted in the inner space is pressed, and as a result, theexhaust gas heat exchanger 240 is fixed to the grip portion 810.

When the grip portion 810 is provided as described above, fixing forceof the engine 200 and the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 may be secured,and an influence of vibration of the engine 200 applied to the exhaustgas heat exchanger 240 may be reduced.

In this embodiment, a buffer material 820 made of a cushion material maybe provided on an inner surface of the grip portion 810 that grips theexhaust gas heat exchanger 240 to absorb vibration or impact. Since thebuffer material 820 is provided as described above, the fixing force ofthe grip portion 810 and the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 mayincrease, and the vibration or impact applied to the exhaust gas heatexchanger 240 is alleviated to dampen the vibration, thereby improvingdurability of the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240, the grip portion 810,and the connected portions.

Thus, one side of the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240, through which theexhaust gas flows, is fixed to the turbocharger, and the central portionmay be fixed to the engine 200 by the grip portion 810.

In this embodiment, the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 may be disposedto be adjacent to the exhaust manifold 270 and overlap the exhaustmanifold 270 in FIGS. 9 and 11.

When the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 is fixed as close as possible tothe exhaust manifold 270 by the grip portion 810 as described above, theeffect of the vibration of the engine 200 applied to the exhaust gasheat exchanger 240 may be maximally reduced.

In addition, the other side of the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240,through which the exhaust gas is discharged, may be fixed by a separatesupport frame 830.

In detail, an exhaust gas discharge tube 247 that is disposed to befaced downward, an extension portion 248 extending in a direction(direction toward the exhaust manifold) crossing the exhaust gasdischarge tube 247, and a protrusion portion 249 protruding downwardfrom a bottom surface of the extension portion 248 are disposed on theother side of the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240, and an upper end ofthe support frame 830 is disposed parallel to the extension portion 248and coupled to the protrusion portion 249 at a lower side of theextension portion 248. For example, a hole may be defined in a positionof an upper end of the support frame 830, which corresponds to theprotrusion portion 249, and a coupling portion such as a bolt, a screw,and the like may be coupled to the protrusion portion 249 through thehole.

As described above, both ends and the central portion of the exhaust gasheat exchanger 240 may be fixed to the engine 200 to secure the fixingforce of the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240, and the vibration appliedto the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 due to the influence of the engine200 may be dampened.

Also, when the engine 200 vibrates, the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240also vibrates in the same direction as the engine 200, and as a result,the engine 200 and the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 vibrate inopposite directions to prevent relative movement from occurring.

Also, the discharge tube 247 is provided at the lowermost end of theexhaust gas heat exchanger 240 to face a lower side, and thus, condensedwater generated in the exhaust gas heat exchanger 247 is easilydischarged, and the discharge tube 247 is more easily connected to asilencer 910 that is disposed below the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240.

The exhaust gas discharged from the exhaust manifold 270 allows theturbine to rotate while passing through the turbine chamber 410 of theturbocharging device 400, and the exhaust gas discharged from theturbine chamber 410 is heat-exchanged with the cooling water whilepassing through the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240.

The exhaust gas passing through the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 has alow temperature through heat dissipation and is discharged to theatmosphere through a muffler 250. The cooling water passing through theexhaust gas heat exchanger 240 increase in temperature through heatabsorption and is collected to the cooling water tank 305 through theexhaust manifold 270 and the radiator 330.

Here, similarly, the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 and the turbinechamber 410 of the turbocharging device 400 may be directly connected toeach other without a separate tube. That is, a first discharge hole (notshown) of the turbine chamber 410 and an exhaust gas inflow hole 241(see FIG. 12) of the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 may be directlyconnected to each other.

Here, when an exhaust gas inlet side of the exhaust gas heat exchanger240 and the turbine chamber 410 of the turbocharging device 400 aredirectly connected to each other, there is an effect of reducing exhaustresistance and exhaust differential pressure. Also, there is anadvantage of easily collecting thermal energy.

In addition, in order to directly connect the exhaust gas inlet side ofthe exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 to the turbine chamber 410 of theturbocharging device 400, a first discharge hole (not shown) of theturbine chamber 410 and the exhaust gas inflow hole 241 of the exhaustgas heat exchanger 240 may provide flanges 242 and 413 extending outwardalong circumferences thereof.

Also, in a state in which the flanges 242 and 413 provided on the firstdischarge hole (not shown) of the turbine chamber 410 and the exhaustgas inflow hole 241 of the heat exchanger 240 are in surface contactwith each other, the flanges may be coupled to each other throughcoupling portions such as bolts or the like.

Hereinafter, the ‘exhaust gas heat exchanger’ will be described in moredetail.

FIG. 9 is a front view illustrating a state in which the exhaust gasheat exchanger is mounted on the engine module. Also, FIG. 10 is aperspective view of the exhaust gas heat exchanger that is one of thecomponents according to an embodiment. Also, FIG. 11 is a front viewillustrating further another example of the engine module.

Referring to FIGS. 9 to 11, the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 has oneside in which the exhaust gas is introduced and higher than the otherside thereof in which the exhaust gas is discharged so as to be inclineddownward from the one side to the other side.

In general, when the heat exchange occurs inside the exhaust gas heatexchanger 240, a problem occurs that condensed water is generated on agas line (passage through which the gas passes). When the condensedwater is generated as described above, the generated condensed water hasto be discharged because corrosion in the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240occurs to cause damage of the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240.

In case of the present invention, a separate component and a drain lineare not provided so as to remove the condensed water, and when theexhaust gas heat exchanger 240 is mounted on the engine 200, the exhaustgas heat exchanger 240 is mounted at an inclination (e.g., about 8°) sothat the condensed water is discharged naturally by the force ofgravity.

According to the present invention, the condensed water discharge maynaturally occur to prevent the phenomenon in which the exhaust gas heatexchanger 240 corrodes or is damaged by the condensed water fromoccurring. In addition, the separate structure for discharging thecondensed water may not be added to simplify a structure, reducemanufacturing costs, and increase in productivity.

As described above, the condensed water discharged to the outside of theexhaust gas heat exchanger 240 along an inclined surface flows to thesilencer 910 disposed lower than an outlet of the exhaust gas heatexchanger 240 through the exhaust tube 930 and then is mixed with thecondensed water within the silencer 910 to flow a drain filter 920disposed lower than the silencer 910 through the condensed water tube940.

Thereafter, the condensed water may be discharged to the outside througha condensed water discharge tube 921 provided in the drain filter 920.

When the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 is inclined as described above,the flange 242 disposed on the exhaust gas inflow hole 241 of theexhaust gas heat exchanger 240 is also inevitably disposed to beinclined.

That is, as illustrated in FIG. 9, an end of the flange 242 of theexhaust gas heat exchanger 240 has be inclined at a predetermined anglein a direction in which the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 is inclinedwith respect to the vertical direction. In this situation, when theflange 413 disposed the first discharge hole (not shown) of the turbinechamber 410 is provided in parallel with the vertical direction, theflanges 242 and 413 on both sides is difficult to surface contact eachother. Thus, exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 and the turbine chamber 410may not be properly connected to each other, and leakage of the exhaustgas may inevitably occur.

In case of the present invention, in order to prevent this phenomenon,the flange 413 provided on the first discharge hole (not shown) of theturbine chamber 410 is inclined at the same angle as the flange 242 ofthe exhaust gas heat exchanger 240. As a result, the flange 413 of theturbine chamber 410 and the flange 242 of the exhaust gas heat exchanger240 are disposed in parallel with each other to surface contact eachother, and thus, the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 and the turbinechamber 410 may be tightly connected each other to prevent the leakageof the exhaust gas.

Hereinafter, a flow of the cooling water will be described in detailwith reference to FIG. 7.

First, when the cooling water pump 300 is driven, the cooling waterstored in the cooling water tank is supplied to the exhaust gas heatexchanger 240, and primary heat exchange is performed with the exhaustgas while passing through the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240.Thereafter, while the cooling water discharged from the exhaust gas heatexchanger 240 passes through the exhaust manifold 270, secondary heatexchange is performed. As the cooling water flows as described above, anexhaust gas temperature of each of the exhaust manifold 270 and theexhaust gas heat exchanger 240 may decrease. The cooling water heatedwhile passing through the exhaust manifold 270 decreases in temperaturewhile passing through the radiator and then is collected again to thecooling water tank.

Also, a portion of the cooling water passing through the exhaust gasheat exchanger 240 may be branched to cool the turbocharging device 400while passing through the turbocharging device 400, and also the coolingwater passing through the turbocharging device 400 decreases intemperature while passing through the radiator and then is collectedagain to the cooling water tank.

The radiator may be installed at one side of the outdoor heat exchanger,and the cooling water of the radiator may be heat-exchanged with theexternal air by driving an outdoor fan and thus is cooled.

Referring again to FIG. 5, the cooling water tube 360 includes a firstmain tube 367 a connecting the cooling water pump 300 to the coolingwater inflow tube 243 of the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 and a secondmain tube 367 b connecting the cooling water discharge tube 245 of theexhaust gas heat exchanger 240 to the exhaust manifold 270 of the engine200.

For reference, the first main tube 367 a and the second main tube 367 bmay be understood as the same concepts as the first cooling water tube360 a (see FIG. 4).

Accordingly, when the cooling water pump 300 is driven, the coolingwater flows through the first main tube 367 a, and the cooling waterflows through the cooling water inflow tube 243 connected to the firstmain tube 367 a. Thereafter, the cooling water is heat-exchanged withthe exhaust gas while passing through the heat exchange chamber 244 andthen is charged to the outside of the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240through the cooling water discharge tube 245. Then, the cooling waterflows to the exhaust manifold 270 of the engine 200 through the secondmain tube 367 b connected to the cooling water discharge tube 245, andafter heat exchange with the exhaust manifold 270 is performed, thecooling water flows toward the radiator.

FIG. 9 is a front view illustrating a state in which the exhaust gasheat exchanger is mounted on the engine module. FIG. 10 is a perspectiveview of the exhaust gas heat exchanger that is one of the componentsaccording to an embodiment.

A portion of the cooling water is branched before flowing through theexhaust gas heat exchanger 240 and then is supplied to the turbochargingdevice 400. Here, a branch hole through which the cooling water isbranched to be supplied to the turbocharging device 400 may be definedin the cooling water inflow tube 243.

For another example, after flowing through the exhaust gas heatexchanger 240, a portion of the cooling water may be branched andsupplied to the turbocharging device 400. For this, the branch hole 246for supplying the cooling water to the turbocharging device 400 may bedefined in the cooling water discharge tube 245 of the exhaust gas heatexchanger 240.

Accordingly, a portion of the cooling water discharged from the exhaustgas heat exchanger 240 may be supplied to the turbocharging device 400and the rest of the cooling water may be supplied to the exhaustmanifold 270.

Also, the cooling water tube 360 may further include a first branch tube368 a connecting the branch hole 246 to the turbocharging device 400 anda second branch tube 368 b connecting the turbocharging device 400 tothe exhaust manifold of the engine 200.

Also, the first branch tube 368 a and the second branch tube 368 b (seeFIG. 4) may be understood as the same concept as the second coolingwater tube 360 b described above.

Here, since the cooling has been continuously performed immediatelyafter the turbocharger is driven, there is no need to install a separatevalve for controlling a flow of the cooling water in the first branchtube 368 a or the branch hole 246.

Accordingly, when the cooling water pump 300 is driven, the coolingwater flows through the first main tube 367 a, and the cooling waterflows through the cooling water inflow tube 243 connected to the firstmain tube 367 a. Thereafter, the cooling water is heat-exchanged withthe exhaust gas while passing through the heat exchange chamber 244 andthen is charged to the outside of the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240through the cooling water discharge tube 245.

Here, a portion of the cooling water is branched through the branch hole246 and then is introduced into a cooling water inlet port 440 of theturbocharging device 400 through the first branch tube 368 a connectedto the branch hole 246.

Also, the cooling water supplied to the turbocharging device 400 isheat-exchanged while passing through the turbine chamber 410 of theturbocharging device 400 and then is discharged from the turbochargingdevice 400 through a cooling water discharge port 450 to flow to theexhaust manifold 270 through the second branch tube 368 b connected tothe cooling water discharge port 450.

Due to this process, the cooling of the turbocharging device 400 may beperformed.

The cooling water discharged from the second main tube 367 b connectedto the cooling water discharge tube 245, but the branch hole 246 flowsto the exhaust manifold 270 of the engine 200 so as to be heat exchangedwith the exhaust manifold 270 and flows to the radiator.

Here, after passing through the turbocharging device 400, the coolingwater discharged to the exhaust manifold 270 may also flow to theradiator after being heat-exchanged with the exhaust manifold 270.

In detail, the cooling water tube 360 may include a third main tube 369guiding the cooling water passing through the exhaust manifold 270 ofthe engine 200 to the radiator 330.

Accordingly, after passing through the turbocharging device 400, thecooling water supplied to the exhaust manifold 270 is combined with thecooling water supplied to the exhaust manifold 270 through the secondmain tube 367 b bypassing the turbocharging device 400 and then flows tothe radiator 330 along the third main tube 369 via the exhaust manifold270.

Here, the third main tube 369 may be understood as the same concept asthe tubes 362, 363, and 365 (see FIG. 1) connecting the engine 200 tothe radiator 330, which are described above.

Referring again to FIGS. 6 to 8, at least one or more of the mixer 220,the turbocharging device 400, the regulator 600, or the intercooler 500may be directly fixed to the engine 200.

In general, the components such as the mixer 220, the turbochargingdevice 400, the regulator 600, and the intercooler 500, which areprovided to compress the mixed gas of the fuel and the air and supplythe mixed gas to the engine are fixed to a structure that is separatelyfrom the engine 200. In this case, the intake manifold 260 and theexhaust manifold 270 of the engine 200 have to be connected to eachother, and thus, the entire length of the tube increases.

Also, as the length of the tube is longer, the structure is complicated,and as the coupling member for fixing each component is separatelyprovided, the structure is more complicated, and a surface area occupiedby each component increases to increase in volume and weight of theentire system.

Also, if the components such as the mixer 220, the turbocharging device400, regulator 600, and the intercooler 500 are fixed to the structurethat is separated from the engine 200, when the engine 200 starts, theengine 200 and each component do not vibrate in the same direction, butvibrate in a relatively opposite direction. Thus, there is a problemsuch as damage of a connection tube and a connected portion of the tubedue to the vibration of the engine 200.

Also, when the mixed gas of the fuel and air increases in flow length,there is a problem that a risk of explosion increases.

In case of the present invention, in order to solve this problem, atleast one of the components of the mixer 220, the turbocharging device400, the regulator 600, and the intercooler 500 is directly fixed to theengine 200.

Here, only a portion selected from the mixer 220, the turbochargingdevice 400, the regulator 600, and the intercooler 500 may be directlyfixed to the engine 200. Alternatively, all of the mixer 220, theturbocharging device 400, and the regulator 600, and the intercooler 500may be fixed to the engine 200.

As described above, when the mixer 220, the turbocharging device 400,the regulator 600, and the intercooler 500 are fixed to the engine 200,there are advantages as follows.

First, the structure for fixing components such as the mixer 220, theturbocharging device 400, the regulator 600, and the intercooler 500 maybe omitted, and thus there is an advantage of being structurally simple.Also, it also has the advantage of reducing costs of the components tobe fixed.

In addition, each of the components such as the mixer 220, theturbocharging device 400, the regulator 600, and the intercooler 500 maybe fixed to the engine 500 to reduce distances between the regulator 600and the intake manifold 260, between the turbocharging device 400 andthe exhaust manifold 270, and between the intercooler 500 and theturbocharging device 400 and thus reduce the length of the entire tube,thereby reducing the surface area occupied by the tube.

In addition, the components such as the mixer 220, the turbochargingdevice 400, the regulator 600, the intercooler 500, and the like arefixed to the engine 200 to prevent the relative movement phenomenon inwhich the mixer 220, the turbocharging device 400, the regulator 600,and the intercooler 500, and the like move in the same direction toreduce the vibration applied to the tube and the connected portions,thereby preventing a phenomena in which the tube and the variousconnected portions are loose or damaged by the vibration, improvingdurability, and preventing safety accidents.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the engine modulethat is one of the components according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 12, the turbocharging device 400 is disposed adjacentto the exhaust manifold 270 provided on a first surface (right side ofFIG. 12) of the engine 200, the regulator 600 is disposed adjacent tothe intake manifold 260 provided on a second surface (left side of FIG.12) of the engine 200, which is opposite to the first surface, and theintercooler 500 is fixed to a third surface (front surface in FIG. 12)in a direction in which the first surface and the second surface crosseach other.

Accordingly, the turbocharging device 400 receiving the power from theexhaust manifold 270 may be disposed adjacent to the exhaust manifold270 to minimize a length of an exhaust gas supply passage disposedbetween the exhaust manifold 270 and the turbocharging device 400, andthe turbocharging device 400 may maximally utilize the power of theexhaust gas.

Also, the regulator 600 for supplying the mixed gas to the intakemanifold 260 by adjusting the mixed gas may also be disposed adjacent tothe intake manifold 260. Thus, an amount of the mixed gas supplied tothe intake manifold 260 may be more precisely adjusted.

Also, the intercooler 500 of which both sides are fixed between theturbocharging device 400 fixed to the exhaust manifold 270 and theregulator 600 fixed to the intake manifold 260 may be fixed between theexhaust manifold 270 and the intake manifold 260 to maintain the minimumdistances between the intercooler 500 and the turbocharging device 400and between the intercooler 500 and the regulator 600. Therefore, thelength of the passage through which the mixed gas flows may be reducedto have a minimum value.

For reference, Since maintenance and repair of an engine oil, anignition plug, a valve clearance, and the like are required through atop surface (upper portion in FIG. 12) of the engine 200, the componentssuch as the intercooler 500 and the lime are not installed on the topsurface (upper portion in FIG. 12) of the engine 200.

Hereinafter, an overall operation of the engine module will be describedwith reference to FIG. 12.

First, the air purified while passing through the air filter 210 and thefuel (LNG) passing through the zero governor are mixed in the mixer 220.

After the mixed gas (air and LNG) mixed in the mixer 220 is dischargedfrom the mixer 220, the mixer 220 passes through the mixer couplingportion 560 of the fixed intercooler 500 and passes through the thirdtube 830 having a bent shape and then is introduced into theturbocharging device 400.

Here, the turbocharging device 400 is coupled to the exhaust manifold270 of the engine 200, and the turbocharging device 400 rotates byreceiving the power from the exhaust gas of the engine 200, and themixed gas introduced into the turbocharging device 400 is compressed ata high temperature and high pressure.

Thereafter, the mixed gas compressed in the turbocharging device 400flows to the intercooler 500 through the discharge tube 401 and thefirst connection tube 810 having the bent shape.

For example, the intercooler 500 may include a body portion 510providing a space in which heat exchange between the cooling watersupplied from the outside and the compressed mixed gas is performed andhaving both opened sides, an inflow portion 520 disposed at the openedone side of the body portion 510 and having an inflow hole 521 (see FIG.12) connected to an outlet side of the turbocharging device 400, and adischarge portion 530 having a discharge hole 531 (see FIG. 12) definedin the other side of the body portion 510 and connected to an inlet sideof the regulator 600.

In detail, the compressed mixed gas is introduced through the firstconnection tube 810 connected to the discharge tube 401 and the inflowhole 521 connected to the first connection tube 810, and the mixed gasintroduced into the body portion 510 via the inflow portion 520 iscooled while being heat-exchanged with the cooling water passing throughthe body portion 510 to increase in density.

Thereafter, the mixed gas having the increasing density is dischargedfrom the intercooler 500 through the discharge portion 530 and thedischarge hole 531 and then is introduced into the regulator 600 throughthe second connection tube 820 connected to the discharge hole 531.

The regulator 600 adjusts an amount of mixed gas introduced from theintercooler 500 to discharge the mixed gas to the engine 200, and then,the mixed gas that is adjusted in amount is introduced into through theintake manifold 260 of the engine 200.

When the mixed gas is introduced into the engine 200 via the intakemanifold 260 as described above, combustion is performed inside theengine 200 to generate power for driving the compressor.

The exhaust gas generated in the combustion process is discharged to theoutside of the engine 200 through the exhaust manifold 270.

The turbocharging device 400 is connected to the exhaust manifold 270,and the exhaust gas discharged from the exhaust manifold 270 is suppliedto the turbocharging device 400 to allow the turbine of theturbocharging device 400 to rotate. Accordingly, the turbochargingdevice 400 may compress the mixed gas introduced from the mixer 220.

The exhaust gas passing through the turbocharging device 400 isheat-exchanged with the cooling water provided from the cooling waterpump 300 while passing through the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240. Asdescribed above, the exhaust gas that has undergone the heat exchange isprovided to an outlet side of the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 to passthrough the muffler 250 for reducing noise of the exhaust gas and thenis discharged to the outside.

After being discharged from the cooling water pump 300, the coolingwater, which has undergone the heat exchange in the exhaust gas heatexchanger 240, is supplied to the exhaust manifold 270 through aseparate tube, and the cooling water passing through the exhaustmanifold 270 is discharged to the outside of the engine 200 to passthrough the radiator and then is collected into the cooling water tankconnected to the cooling water pump 300.

Also, after being discharged from the cooling water pump 300, a portionof the cooling water, which has undergone the heat exchange in theexhaust gas heat exchanger 240, may be branched through a separateconnection tube before flowing to the exhaust manifold 270 and issupplied to the turbocharging device 400, and then, the heat-exchangedcooling water may be collected into the cooling water tank connected tothe cooling water pump 300 after passing through the exhaust manifold270 and the radiator.

According to the present invention as described above, in the exhaustgas heat exchanger, the condensed water discharge may naturally occur toprevent the phenomenon in which the exhaust gas heat exchanger corrodesor is damaged by the condensed water from occurring. In addition, theseparate structure for discharging the condensed water may not be addedto simplify a structure, reduce manufacturing costs, and increase inproductivity.

In addition, both the ends and the central portion of the exhaust gasheat exchanger may be fixed to the engine to secure the fixing force ofthe exhaust gas heat exchanger, thereby reducing the vibration appliedto the exhaust gas heat exchanger due to the effect of the engine.

In addition, the exhaust gas heat exchanger may vibrate in the samedirection as the engine when the engine vibrates to prevent the relativemovement in which the engine and the exhaust gas heat exchanger vibratein opposite directions from occurring.

In addition, the turbocharger and the exhaust gas heat exchanger may bedirectly connected to each other so that it is advantageous in reducingthe exhaust differential pressure, and the separate structure forconnection is omitted.

In addition, the exhaust gas heat exchanger may be disposed close to theexhaust manifold while newly mounting the fixing portion on the centralportion of the exhaust gas heat exchanger to minimize the effect of thevibration generated in the engine, which is applied to the exhaust gasheat exchanger.

FIG. 13 is a view illustrating a flow of air in the engine module ofFIG. 8. Also, FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view illustratinganother example of the engine module that is one of the componentsaccording to an embodiment.

In general, the components such as the mixer 220, the turbochargingdevice 400, the regulator 600, and the intercooler 500, which areprovided to compress the mixed gas of the fuel and the air and supplythe mixed gas to the engine are fixed to a structure that is separatelyfrom the engine 200. In this case, the intake manifold 260 and theexhaust manifold 270 of the engine 200 have to be connected to eachother, and thus, the entire length of the tube increases.

Also, as the length of the tube is longer, the structure is complicated,and as the coupling member for fixing each component is separatelyprovided, the structure is more complicated, and a surface area occupiedby each component increases to increase in volume and weight of theentire system.

Also, if the components such as the mixer 220, the turbocharging device400, regulator 600, and the intercooler 500 are fixed to the structurethat is separated from the engine 200, when the engine 200 starts, theengine 200 and each component do not vibrate in the same direction, butvibrate in a relatively opposite direction. Thus, there is a problemsuch as damage of a connection tube and a connected portion of the tubedue to the vibration of the engine 200.

Also, when the mixed gas of the fuel and air increases in flow length,there is a problem that a risk of explosion increases.

In case of the present invention, in order to solve this problem, atleast one of the components of the mixer 220, the turbocharging device400, the regulator 600, and the intercooler 500 is directly fixed to theengine 200.

At this time, only a portion selected from the mixer 220, theturbocharging device 400, the regulator 600, and the intercooler 500 maybe directly fixed to the engine 200, the mixer 220, the turbochargingdevice 400, and the regulator Both the 600 and the intercooler 500 maybe directly fixed to the engine 200.

As described above, when the mixer 220, the turbocharging device 400,the regulator 600, and the intercooler 500 are fixed to the engine 200,there are advantages as follows.

First, the structure for fixing components such as the mixer 220, theturbocharging device 400, the regulator 600, and the intercooler 500 maybe omitted, and thus there is an advantage of being structurally simple.Also, it also has the advantage of reducing costs of the components tobe fixed.

In addition, each of the components such as the mixer 220, theturbocharging device 400, the regulator 600, and the intercooler 500 maybe fixed to the engine 500 to reduce distances between the regulator 600and the intake manifold 260, between the turbocharging device 400 andthe exhaust manifold 270, and between the intercooler 500 and theturbocharging device 400 and thus reduce the length of the entire tubeand the passage, thereby reducing the surface area occupied by the tube.

In addition, the components such as the mixer 220, the turbochargingdevice 400, the regulator 600, the intercooler 500, and the like arefixed to the engine 200 to prevent the relative movement phenomenon inwhich the mixer 220, the turbocharging device 400, the regulator 600,and the intercooler 500, and the like move in the same direction toreduce the vibration applied to the tube and the connected portions,thereby preventing a phenomena in which the tube and the variousconnected portions are loose or damaged by the vibration, improvingdurability, and preventing safety accidents.

Referring to FIGS. 13 to 14, the mixed gas inflow hole 261 of the intakemanifold 260 and the mixed gas discharge hole (not shown) of theregulator 600 may be directly connected to each other, and thus, theregulator 600 may be fixed to the engine 200 through the intake manifold260.

Here, the mixed gas discharge hole (not shown) may mean an outlet (hole)provided in the discharge unit 620 to be described later.

Also, the turbocharging device 400 is disposed adjacent to the exhaustmanifold 270 provided on a first surface (right side of FIG. 14) of theengine 200, the regulator 600 is disposed adjacent to the intakemanifold 260 provided on a second surface (left side of FIG. 14) of theengine 200, which is opposite to the first surface, and the intercooler500 is fixed to a third surface (front surface in FIG. 14) in adirection in which the first surface and the second surface cross eachother.

Accordingly, the turbocharging device 400 receiving the power from theexhaust manifold 270 may be disposed adjacent to the exhaust manifold270 to minimize a length of an exhaust gas supply passage disposedbetween the exhaust manifold 270 and the turbocharging device 400, andthe turbocharging device 400 may maximally collect power energy of theexhaust gas.

Also, the regulator 600 for supplying the mixed gas to the intakemanifold 260 by adjusting the mixed gas may also be disposed adjacent tothe intake manifold 260. Thus, an amount of the mixed gas supplied tothe intake manifold 260 may be more precisely adjusted.

Also, the intercooler 500 of which both sides are fixed between theturbocharging device 400 fixed to the exhaust manifold 270 and theregulator 600 fixed to the intake manifold 260 may be fixed between theexhaust manifold 270 and the intake manifold 260 to minimally maintainthe distances between the intercooler 500 and the turbocharging device400 and between the intercooler 500 and the regulator 600. Therefore,the length of the passage through which the mixed gas flows may bereduced to have a minimum value.

For reference, Since maintenance and repair of an engine oil, anignition plug, a valve clearance, and the like are required through atop surface (upper portion in FIG. 14) of the engine 200, the componentssuch as the intercooler 500 and the lime are not installed on the topsurface (upper portion in FIG. 14) of the engine 200.

Hereinafter, shapes and structures of the intake manifold and theregulator will be described in more detail with reference to thedrawings.

FIG. 15 is a view illustrating a configuration of an engine modulehaving no supercharging function according to a related art. Also, FIG.16 is a view illustrating a configuration of an engine module having asupercharging function according to the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 15, since the engine module according to therelated art does not have a supercharging function, various componentsfor the supercharging, for example, the turbocharging device 400, theintercooler 500, and separate components for connecting theabove-described components to each other are not installed. Forreference, (a) of FIG. 15 is a view illustrating an engine moduleaccording to the related art when viewed from the intake manifold side,and (b) of FIG. 15 is a view when viewed from the upper side.

In this case, when the filtered air is supplied through the air filter210 disposed at one side of the engine 200, air is introduced into themixer 220 through a tube 215. Thereafter, air and fuel are mixed in themixer 220, and the mixed gas is supplied to the intake manifold 260through the regulator 600.

Here, a flow length of the air and the mixed gas may be short, adirection of the passage may be provided in a straight line, the supplyof the mixed gas to the intake manifold 260 may be performed in a statein which the flow resistance is minimized, and in order to minimize thelength of the passage, a facing direction of the inlet of the intakemanifold may be directed to face the air filter 210.

However, in the state in which the intake manifold is disposed asillustrated in FIG. 16, when components such as the turbocharging device400 and the intercooler 500 are additionally arranged for thesupercharging function, the mixed gas discharged from the turbochargingdevice disposed adjacent to the exhaust manifold 270 may increase inflow length, and also, the passage may be provided in a shape bypassingthe engine 200 to increase in flow resistance.

In case of the present invention, in order to solve this phenomenon, theshapes and structures of the regulator 600 and the intake manifold 260are changed.

In detail, referring to FIG. 16, it is confirmed that the shape of theintake manifold 260 and the arranged structure of the regulator 600 arechanged based on the related art.

For reference, FIG. 16(a) is a view illustrating an engine moduleaccording to the present invention when viewed from the intake manifoldside, and FIG. 16(b) is a view when viewed from the upper side.

First, referring to (a) of FIG. 16, it is confirmed that the shape andthe structure are changed so that the intake manifold 260 is disposed inparallel to a sidewall (second surface) of the engine 200, and thedirection of the mixed gas inflow hole 261 of the intake manifold 260 isdirected in an opposite direction of the air filter 210, but is directedtoward the intercooler 500.

Also, it is confirmed that the direction in which the mixed gas flowsinto the mixed gas inflow hole 261 of the intake manifold 260 isprovided from the upper side to the lower side.

That is, in the related art, the direction in which the mixed gas flowsinto the intake manifold 260 is provided horizontally from left to rightbased on (a) of FIG. 15, whereas in the case of the present invention,the direction in which the mixed gas flows into the intake manifold 260is provided vertically downward based on (a) of FIG. 16(a) or isprovided to be inclined downward from right to left.

When the arranged structure of the intake manifold 260 is changed asdescribed above, the distance between the intercooler 500 and the intakemanifold 260 may be reduced.

Also, the mixed gas discharged downward from the intercooler 500disposed on the upper side may flow into the intake manifold 260provided to be faced upward, and thus, the mixed gas smoothly flows, andthe flow resistance of the mixed gas is minimized.

Also, in case of the present invention, the intake manifold 260 has theform of a flat box as a whole and is disposed in parallel to thesidewall (second surface) of the engine 200, thereby reducing the volumeof the engine module.

In detail, referring to (b) of FIG. 16, it is confirmed that a height ofthe intake manifold 260 protruding to the outside of the sidewall(second surface) of the engine 200 is reduced compared to the relatedart (see FIG. 15).

Also, the direction in which the purified air of the air filter 210 isdischarged is also provided to be opposite to the direction according tothe related art.

In detail, according to the related art, in the air filter, thedirection in which the purified air is discharged is provided toward theintake manifold, whereas in the case of the present invention, thedischarge direction of the air purified in the air filter 210 isdirected to the exhaust manifold.

Accordingly, the air may be smoothly supplied to the mixer 220 disposedadjacent to the exhaust manifold 270. Also, the supply of the mixed gasto the mixer 220 and the turbocharging device 400 disposed adjacent tothe exhaust manifold 270 may also be realized smoothly.

Also, the intake manifold 260 may include a main portion 262 that guidesthe mixed gas introduced downward through the mixed gas inflow hole 261in the horizontal direction and a plurality of branch portions 263communicating with the main portion 262 and guiding the mixed gas, whichis guided in the horizontal direction, upward to supply the mixed gasinto the engine 200.

Thus, the mixed gas, which is introduced to be inclined downward throughthe mixed gas inflow hole 261 of the intake manifold 260, may flow inthe horizontal direction while passing through the main portion 262 andthen be branched into each of the branch portions 263 communicating withthe main portion 262 to pass through the branch portions 263 to flowupward and be supplied into each of cylinders of the engine 200.

As described above, when the shape and arranged direction of the intakemanifold 260 is changed, and thus the arrangement structure of theregulator 600 is changed, a distance between the outlet side of theintercooler 500 and the inlet side of the intake manifold 260 may bereduced to have a minimum value.

In addition, the distance between the intercooler 500 and theturbocharging device 400 is also minimized, and the distance between theturbocharging device 400, the exhaust manifold 270, and the mixer 220may also be minimized.

Also, the discharge direction of the mixed gas of the intercooler 500and the inflow direction of the mixed gas of the intake manifold 260 arethe same or similar to each other, and thus, the flow path of the mixedgas may be provided as straight as possible, and thus, the mixed gas mayquickly flow without being lost in a state in which the flow resistance(intake resistance) is minimized.

Also, in the flow path of the mixed gas, the regulator 600 is disposedin a direction parallel to the flow path so that the regulator 600 doesnot affect the flow of the mixed gas.

That is, in case of the present invention, when the turbocharging device400 and the intercooler 500 are added to the engine module, in order tooptimize the flow path, the outlet of the air filter 210 is provided atthe exhaust manifold side, and the outlet of the air filter 210 and thetube 215 connecting the mixer 220 are provided as straight as possible.Also, it may be provided as horizontally as possible. Also, the distancebetween the mixer 220 and the turbocharging device 400 is narrowed asmuch as possible, and the turbocharging device 400 is directly connectedto the exhaust manifold 270. Also, the intercooler 500 disposed betweenthe turbocharging device 400 and the regulator 600 may be disposed at anoptimal position based on the flow of the mixed gas. In detail, theintercooler 500 is disposed on another surface connecting the surface towhich the exhaust manifold 270 was fixed and the surface to which theintake manifold 260 is fixed.

Here, both the intake side of the intake manifold 260 and the exhaustside of the exhaust manifold 270 are disposed near the surface on whichthe intercooler 500 is disposed.

Also, the inlet side of the intake manifold 260 is disposed at a portionthat is closest to the outlet side of the intercooler 500, and thus, theshape and arranged direction of the intake manifold 260 are changed sothat the inflow direction of the mixed gas is optimized to matchconditions. Also, the regulator 600 is disposed on the passage of themixed gas flowing from the intercooler 500 to the intake manifold 260.

As described above, the flow paths of the air and the mixed gas may besmoothly provided while drawing an overall ‘U’ shape from the exhaustmanifold side to the intake manifold side, thereby minimizing the lengthof the passage and being structurally compact. As a result, the flowresistance may be reduced.

Hereinafter, the turbocharging device and the intercooler constitutingthe ‘engine module’ will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 13to 14.

For reference, in the following description, a case in which aturbocharging device 400 is provided as a ‘turbocharger’ will bedescribed as an example, but the scope of the present invention is notlimited thereto, and the turbocharging device 400 may be applied invarious manners known in the art.

First, the turbocharger 400 includes a turbine chamber 410 that receivesan exhaust gas so that a turbine 411 (see FIG. 4) disposed thereinrotates, a compression chamber 420 in which a mixed gas supplied fromthe mixer 220 is compressed while rotating together with the turbine411, and a rotation shaft transmitting rotational force of the turbinechamber 410 to the compression chamber 420. Also, the compressionchamber 420 may be provided with an impeller that is connected to therotation shaft to rotates so as to compress the mixed gas introducedinto the compression chamber 420.

According to this, the exhaust gas discharged from the exhaust manifold270 is immediately introduced into the turbine chamber 410 to allow theturbine to rotate, and the rotational force is transmitted to thecompression chamber 420 through the rotation shaft. Also, the mixed gassupplied from the mixer 220 is compressed by the rotating impellerconnected to the rotation shaft 430 while passing through the inside ofthe compression chamber 420 and then discharged to the outside of thecompression chamber 420 through the discharge tube 401 (see FIG. 15).

The compressed mixed gas discharged out of the compression chamber 420as described above flows to the intercooler 500 to increase in density.

For example, the intercooler 500 may include a body portion 510providing a space in which heat exchange between the cooling watersupplied from the outside and the compressed mixed gas is performed andhaving both opened sides, an inflow portion 520 disposed at the openedone side of the body portion 510 and having an inflow tube 521 connectedto an outlet side of the turbocharging device 400, and a dischargeportion 530 having a discharge hole 531 defined in the other side of thebody portion 510 and connected to an inlet side of the regulator 600.

Here, the discharge tube 401 of the compression chamber 420 may bedirectly connected to the inflow tube 521 of the intercooler 500.

For another example, the discharge tube 401 of the compression chamber420 and the inflow tube 521 of the intercooler 500 may be connected toeach other through a first connection tube 810 having a bent shape.

In detail, the intercooler 500 may be connected through the firstconnection tube 810 that is bent in the form of ‘U’ or ‘J’.

The discharge tube 531 of the intercooler 500 may be provided to beinclined downward to discharge the mixed gas to the intake manifold 260,and the discharge tube 531 may be directly connected to the inflow hole610 of the regulator 600.

For another example, the discharge tube 531 of the intercooler 500 maybe connected to the inflow hole 610 of the regulator 600 through asecond connection tube 820 having a bent shape.

In detail, the second connection tube 820 is provided to be inclineddownward from the intercooler 500 to the regulator 600 and may have thebent form of ‘┐’.

For another example, the second connection tube 820 may be provided in astraight line. For this, the discharge tube 531 of the intercooler 500and the inflow hole 610 of the regulator 600 may be provided to faceeach other at the same angle.

In this case, the intake resistance of the mixed gas flowing into theregulator 600 may be minimized.

The discharge portion 620 (see FIG. 14) of the regulator 600 may bedirectly connected to the mixed gas inflow hole 261 (see FIG. 14) of theintake manifold 260.

When the regulator 600 and the intake manifold 260 are directlyconnected as described above, the tube for connecting the regulator 600to the intake manifold 260 may be omitted to simplify the structure andshorten the flow path of the mixed gas.

The mixer 220 may be fixed to the intercooler 500.

For this, a mixer coupling portion 560 to which the mixer 220 is coupledmay be disposed at the inflow portion 520 of the intercooler 500.

The mixer coupling part 560 may be integrated with the inflow hole 520and have a hollow shape so that the mixed gas is discharged to theturbocharging device 400 after the mixed gas passing through the mixer220 is introduced.

Thus, the mixed gas discharged from the mixer 220 may pass through thehollow 561 of the mixer coupling part 560 and then be introduced intothe turbocharging device 400 through the third tube (see referencenumeral ‘830’ in FIG. 14) that is bent in the form of ‘⊏’. Accordingly,the mixer 220 may be fixed to the engine 200, as well as alignment ofthe mixer 220 may be easily performed.

Also, the engine module further includes an air filter 210 for purifyingexternal air, and at least a portion of an air tube 215 connecting theair filter 210 to the mixer 220 may be provided in a straight line.

When the air tube 215 is provided in a straight line as described above,air flowability may be improved. That is, in a straight-line section,the flow of the air is smoothly performed so that the air supply to themixer 220 is easily performed.

In addition, a portion of the air tube 215 may be provided in the formof a curve.

Also, the air filter 210 and the mixer 220 may be fixed at the sameheight.

When the air filter 210 and the mixer 220 are fixed to the same heightas described above, the air flow is more smoothly performed, and thus,the air supply to the mixer 220 may be more easily performed.

According to the present invention as described above, it is possible tominimize air intake resistance of the mixer 220 by providing the airtube 215 connecting the air filter 210 to the mixer 220 in a horizontaland straight line.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the engine module provided with thecooling water pump.

Referring to FIG. 17, the engine module further includes an exhaust gasheat exchanger 240 that exchanges heat between the exhaust gas and thecooling water passing through the turbocharging device 400.

Here, the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 may be directly fixed to theengine 200. In detail, the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 may bedirectly fixed to the exhaust manifold 270 of the engine 200. Here, afixing portion such as a clamp for fixing the exhaust gas heat exchanger240 to the exhaust manifold 270 may be separately provided.

Accordingly, the exhaust gas discharged from the exhaust manifold 270allows the turbine 411 to rotate while passing through the turbinechamber 410 of the turbocharging device 400, and the exhaust gasdischarged from the turbine chamber 410 is heat-exchanged with thecooling water while passing through the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240.

The exhaust gas passing through the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 has alow temperature through heat dissipation and is discharged to theatmosphere through a muffler. The cooling water passing through theexhaust gas heat exchanger 240 increase in temperature through heatabsorption and is collected to the cooling water tank through theexhaust manifold 270 and the radiator.

Here, similarly, the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 and the turbinechamber 410 of the turbocharging device 400 may be directly connected toeach other without a separate tube. That is, a first discharge hole (notshown) of the turbine chamber 410 and an exhaust gas inflow hole 241 ofthe exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 may be directly connected to eachother.

For example, the first discharge hole (not shown) and the exhaust gasinflow hole 241 form flanges 413 extending outward along a circumferencethereof, and in the state in which the flanges 413 contact each other,the flanges 413 may be connected to each other by coupling the couplingportion such as the bolt.

Hereinafter, a flow of the cooling water will be described in detailwith reference to FIG. 17.

First, when the cooling water pump 300 is driven, primary heat exchangeis performed while the cooling water stored in the cooling water tankpasses through the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240, and then, secondaryheat exchange is performed while passing through the exhaust manifold270. As the cooling water flows as described above, an exhaust gastemperature of each of the exhaust manifold 270 and the exhaust gas heatexchanger 240 may decrease. The cooling water heated while passingthrough the exhaust manifold 270 decreases in temperature while passingthrough the radiator and then is collected again to the cooling watertank.

Also, a portion of the cooling water passing through the exhaust gasheat exchanger 240 may be branched to cool the turbocharging device 400while passing through the turbocharging device 400, and also the coolingwater passing through the turbocharging device 400 decreases intemperature while passing through the radiator and then is collectedagain to the cooling water tank.

The radiator may be installed at one side of the outdoor heat exchanger,and the cooling water passing through the radiator may be heat-exchangedwith external air by driving the outdoor fan. In this process, therefrigerant may be cooled.

Hereinafter, an overall operation of the engine module will be describedwith reference again to FIG. 14.

First, the air purified while passing through the air filter 210 and thefuel (LNG) passing through the zero governor are mixed in the mixer 220.

After the mixed gas (air and LNG) mixed in the mixer 220 is dischargedfrom the mixer 220, the mixer 220 passes through the mixer couplingportion 560 of the fixed intercooler 500 and passes through the thirdtube 830 having a bent shape and then is introduced into theturbocharging device 400.

Here, the turbocharging device 400 is coupled to the exhaust manifold270 of the engine 200, and the turbocharging device 400 rotates byreceiving the power from the exhaust gas of the engine 200, and themixed gas introduced into the turbocharging device 400 is compressed ata high temperature and high pressure.

Thereafter, the mixed gas compressed in the turbocharging device 400flows to the intercooler 500 through the discharge tube 401 and thefirst connection tube 810 having the bent shape.

In detail, the compressed mixed gas is introduced through the firstconnection tube 810 connected to the discharge tube 401 and the inflowtube 521 connected to the first connection tube 810, and the mixed gasintroduced into the body portion 510 via the inflow portion 520 iscooled while being heat-exchanged with the cooling water passing throughthe body portion 510 to increase in density.

Thereafter, the mixed gas having the increasing density is dischargedfrom the intercooler 500 through the discharge portion 530 and thedischarge tube 531 and then is introduced into the regulator 600 throughthe second connection tube 820 connected to the discharge tube 531.

The regulator 600 adjusts an amount of mixed gas introduced from theintercooler 500 to discharge the mixed gas to the engine 200, and then,the mixed gas that is adjusted in amount is introduced into through theintake manifold 260 of the engine 200.

Here, the outlet of the regulator 600 and the inlet of the intakemanifold 260 may be directly connected to each other, and thus, theregulator 600 may be fixed to the intake manifold 260, the structurebecomes compact, and the intake resistance may be reduced.

Also, even if the shape of the passage through which the mixed gas flowsis complicated, the length of the passage through which the mixed gasflows is reduced to have a minimum value, the discharge direction of themixed gas of the intercooler 500 and the inflow direction of the mixedgas of the intake manifold 260 and the regulator 600 are designed to besmooth, thereby minimizing the flow resistance of the mixed gas.

When the mixed gas is introduced into the engine 200 via the intakemanifold 260 as described above, combustion is performed inside theengine 200 to generate power for driving the compressor.

The exhaust gas generated in the combustion process is discharged to theoutside of the engine 200 through the exhaust manifold 270.

The turbocharging device 400 is connected to the exhaust manifold 270,and the exhaust gas discharged from the exhaust manifold 270 is suppliedto the turbocharging device 400 to allow the turbine of theturbocharging device 400 to rotate. Accordingly, the turbochargingdevice 400 may compress the mixed gas introduced from the mixer 220.

The exhaust gas passing through the turbocharging device 400 isheat-exchanged with the cooling water provided from the cooling waterpump 300 while passing through the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240. Asdescribed above, the exhaust gas that has undergone the heat exchange isprovided to an outlet side of the exhaust gas heat exchanger 240 to passthrough the muffler 250 for reducing noise of the exhaust gas and thenis discharged to the outside.

After being discharged from the cooling water pump 300, the coolingwater, which has undergone the heat exchange in the exhaust gas heatexchanger 240, is supplied to the exhaust manifold 270 through aseparate tube, and the cooling water passing through the exhaustmanifold 270 is discharged to the outside of the engine 200 to passthrough the radiator and then is collected into the cooling water tankconnected to the cooling water pump 300.

Also, after being discharged from the cooling water pump 300, a portionof the cooling water, which has undergone the heat exchange in theexhaust gas heat exchanger 240, may be branched through a separateconnection tube 350 before flowing to the exhaust manifold 270 and issupplied to the turbocharging device 400, and then, the heat-exchangedcooling water may be collected into the cooling water tank connected tothe cooling water pump 300 after passing through the exhaust manifold270 and the radiator.

According to the present invention as described above, the componentssuch as the turbocharging device 400, the intercooler 500, the regulator600, and the like may be fixed to the engine 200 itself rather than theseparate structure that is separated from the engine 200 to omit thestructure for fixing each of the components.

In addition, each of the components may be fixed to the engine 200 toreduce distances between the regulator 600 and the intake manifold 260,between the turbocharging device 400 and the exhaust manifold 270, andbetween the intercooler 500 and the turbocharging device 400 and thusreduce the length of the entire tube, thereby reducing the surface areaoccupied by the tube.

In addition, the components such as the turbocharging device 400, theintercooler 500, the regulator 600, and the like may be fixed to theengine 200 to prevent the relative movement phenomenon in which theturbocharging device 400, the intercooler 500, the regulator 600, andthe like move in opposite directions from occurring when the engine isdriven, so as to reduce the vibration applied to the tube and theconnected portion and prevent the phenomena in which the tube and thevarious connected portions are loose or damaged by the vibration,thereby improving the durability and preventing the safety accidents.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A gas heat pump system, comprising: anair-conditioning module comprising a compressor, an outdoor heatexchanger, an expansion device, an indoor heat exchanger, and arefrigerant tube; and an engine module comprising an engine in which amixed gas of a fuel and air is burned to provide power for an operationof the compressor, wherein the engine module comprises: a mixer in whichthe air and the fuel are mixed to be discharged; a turbocharging deviceconfigured to receive the mixed gas discharged from the mixer so as tocompress and discharge the mixed gas; an intercooler configured toreceive the mixed gas compressed in the turbocharging device so as tocool the mixed gas in a heat-exchange manner to increase in density,thereby discharging the mixed gas; a regulator configured to receive themixed gas discharged from the intercooler so as to control an amount ofmixed gas and supply the mixed gas to the engine; and an exhaust gasheat exchanger configured to heat-exchange an exhaust gas dischargedfrom the engine with cooling water, wherein the exhaust gas heatexchanger includes a first side, through which the exhaust gas isintroduced, and a second side, through which the exhaust gas isdischarged and which is disposed lower than the first side so that theexhaust gas heat exchanger is inclined downward from the first side tothe second side, wherein the exhaust gas flows from the first side tothe second side of the exhaust gas heat exchanger, wherein condensedwater generated in the exhaust gas heat exchanger flows from the firstside to the second side of the exhaust gas heat exchanger, and whereinthe cooling water flows from the second side to the first side of theexhaust gas heat exchanger.
 2. The gas heat pump system according toclaim 1, wherein the turbocharging device is provided as a turbochargerthat is driven by the exhaust gas of the engine, and the exhaust gasheat exchanger is configured to receive the exhaust gas passing throughthe turbocharging device so as to be heat-exchanged with the coolingwater.
 3. The gas heat pump system according to claim 2, wherein adischarge hole of the turbocharging device and a suction hole of theheat exchanger are directly connected to each other.
 4. The gas heatpump system according to claim 3, wherein each of the discharge hole ofthe turbocharging device and the suction hole of the heat exchanger isprovided with a flange protruding along a circumference thereof, and ina state in which the flanges contact each other, the flanges are coupledto be connected to each other by using a coupling portion.
 5. The gasheat pump system according to claim 1, wherein the exhaust gas heatexchanger is directly fixed to the engine.
 6. The gas heat pump systemaccording to claim 5, wherein the engine module further comprises a gripportion having a first side coupled to the exhaust gas heat exchanger ina manner of gripping the exhaust gas heat exchanger and a second sidefixed to the engine.
 7. The gas heat pump system according to claim 1,wherein the second side of the exhaust gas heat exchanger, through whichthe exhaust gas is discharged, is fixed to the engine by a separatesupport frame.
 8. The gas heat pump system according to claim 7, whereinan exhaust gas discharge tube provided to face a lower side, anextension portion extending in a direction crossing the exhaust gasdischarge tube, and a protrusion protruding downward from a bottomsurface of the extension portion are disposed at the second side of theexhaust gas heat exchanger, and an upper end of the separate supportframe is disposed parallel to the extension portion so as to be coupledto the protrusion at a lower side of the extension portion.
 9. The gasheat pump system according to claim 1, wherein the exhaust gas heatexchanger comprises: a cooling water inflow tube which is provided atthe second side through which the exhaust gas is discharged and intowhich the cooling water is introduced; a heat exchanging chamber inwhich the introduced cooling water and the exhaust gas areheat-exchanged with each other; and a cooling water discharge tube whichis provided at the first side through which the exhaust gas isintroduced and from which the cooling water heat-exchanged with theexhaust gas is discharged.
 10. The gas heat pump system according toclaim 9, wherein the engine module is provided with a cooling water pumpand a cooling water tube, through which the cooling water flows to theexhaust gas heat exchanger or the turbocharging device.
 11. The gas heatpump system according to claim 10, wherein the cooling water tubecomprises: a first main tube configured to connect the cooling waterpump to the cooling water inflow tube of the exhaust gas heat exchanger;and a second main tube configured to connect the cooling water dischargetube of the exhaust gas heat exchanger to an exhaust manifold of theengine.
 12. The gas heat pump system according to claim 10, wherein abranch hole through which the cooling water is supplied toward theturbocharging device is defined in the cooling water discharge tube ofthe exhaust gas heat exchanger.
 13. The gas heat pump system accordingto claim 12, wherein the cooling water tube comprises: a first branchtube configured to the branch hole to the turbocharging device; and asecond branch tube configured to the turbocharging device to an exhaustmanifold of the engine.
 14. The gas heat pump system according to claim1, wherein the exhaust gas passing through the exhaust gas heatexchanger flows to a silencer through an exhaust tube.
 15. The gas heatpump system according to claim 14, wherein the condensed water flowsalong the exhaust tube and is discharged to the outside.
 16. The gasheat pump system according to claim 15, wherein the condensed waterflowing to the exhaust tube is discharged to the outside through acondensed water discharge hole defined in a drain filter.
 17. The gasheat pump system according to claim 1, wherein the mixer, theturbocharging device, and the exhaust gas heat exchanger are providedadjacent to an exhaust manifold disposed on a first surface of theengine, the regulator is provided adjacent to an intake manifolddisposed on a second surface opposite to the first surface, and theintercooler is fixed to a third surface crossing the first surface andthe second surface.
 18. The gas heat pump system according to claim 1,wherein the fuel comprises household LNG or LPG.
 19. The gas heat pumpsystem according to claim 1, further comprising an intake manifold intowhich the mixed gas supplied from the regulator is introduced, wherein afirst mixed gas inflow hole of the intake manifold and a first mixed gasdischarge hole of the regulator are directly connected to each other.20. The gas heat pump system according to claim 19, wherein theturbocharging device is provided adjacent to an exhaust manifolddisposed on a first surface of the engine, the regulator is providedadjacent to the intake manifold disposed on a second surface opposite tothe first surface, and the intercooler is fixed to a third surfacecrossing the first surface and the second surface.
 21. The gas heat pumpsystem according to claim 20, wherein the intercooler is disposed abovethe turbocharging device or the regulator.
 22. The gas heat pump systemaccording to claim 21, wherein the intercooler is provided with adischarge tube having a downwardly inclined shape so that the mixed gasis discharged toward the intake manifold.
 23. The gas heat pump systemaccording to claim 22, wherein a connection tube having a bent shape andconfigured to guide a flow of the mixed gas downward from an upper sideis provided between the discharge tube and a second mixed gas inflowhole of the regulator.
 24. The gas heat pump system according to claim23, wherein the first mixed gas discharge hole of the regulator isopened to a lower side, and the first mixed gas inflow hole of theintake manifold is opened to an upper side.
 25. The gas heat pump systemaccording to claim 24, wherein the intake manifold comprises: a mainportion configured to guide the mixed gas, which is introduced downwardthrough the mixed gas inflow hole, in a horizontal direction; and aplurality of branch portions, each of which communicates with the mainportion, the plurality of branch portions being configured to guide themixed gas, which is guided in the horizontal direction, upward in avertical direction so as to supply the mixed gas to the engine.
 26. Thegas heat pump system according to claim 25, wherein the intake manifoldis disposed to be erected parallel to the second surface of the engine.27. The gas heat pump system according to claim 19, wherein the mixer isfixed to the intercooler.
 28. The gas heat pump system according toclaim 19, wherein the engine module further comprises an air filterconfigured to purify external air, and at least a portion of an air tubeconfigured to connect the air filter to the mixer has a straight-lineshape.
 29. The gas heat pump system according to claim 28, wherein theair filter and the mixer are fixed at the same height.
 30. The gas heatpump system according to claim 10, wherein the cooling water tubecomprises a third main tube configured to guide the cooling waterpassing through the exhaust manifold of the engine to a radiator.